OCGI’s second core strategic ambition is to work proactively with and encourage the entire oil and gas industry, including national oil and gas companies, to strive for net zero operations in the Paris Agreement timeframe and aim for near zero methane emissions by 2030.
In its 2023 World Energy Outlook, the IEA estimated that the entire oil and gas industry’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions amounted to 5.1 Gt CO2 in 2022.1 This is equivalent to around twice Russia’s annual emissions,2 so reducing these will make an important contribution to decarbonization.
OGCI members represent, in aggregate, approximately 26% of the world’s total oil and gas production3 and 13% of total Scope 1 and 2 oil and natural gas-related emissions on an operated basis.4
To help expand the reach of emissions reductions across the oil and gas industry, OGCI collaborates with industry participants to help foster innovation and promote technology scaling.
In 2023, OGCI focused its efforts on two main tracks:
- Encouraging more oil and gas producers, in particular national oil companies, to aim for net zero operations by 2050 through supporting the creation and launch of the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC).
- Stepping up its work to encourage and enable more industry participants to reduce their methane emissions to near zero by 2030.
Building a coalition through OGDC
In 2023, the COP28 team requested that OGCI help shape an initiative whereby companies could share their experience and collaborate to accelerate their emissions reductions from oil and gas operations.
This aligns with OGCI’s strategic ambition to intensify efforts to enable more industry participants to work toward reducing emissions from their oil and gas operations to achieve net zero operations in the timeframe of the Paris Agreement.
“We firmly believe that in order to achieve realistic results, we must have a collaborative approach to energy transition across the industry. Partnerships are essential to create and enable solutions at scale in transforming the global energy system. As one of the first term champions of the OGDC, we are proud to leverage our expertise and share best practices to support the industry’s progress towards a lower emissions future.”
Amin Nasser, CEO Aramco
During 2023, OGCI and other organizations, including the World Bank, Climate Action Taskforce, the UN’s Environment Programme (UNEP), Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the International Energy Agency, met regularly to lay the foundation for
the initiative, build out the strategic ambitions and recruit the first group of signatories ahead of the OGDC’s successful launch in December 2023 during COP28 in Dubai.
To date, more than 50 oil and gas companies, including 11 of OGCI’s member companies, have signed up to OGDC’s core ambition to reach net zero emissions from operated assets by 2050. This includes an aim to reduce upstream methane emissions to near zero and eliminate routine flaring by 2030.5
OGDC includes a diverse range of companies from around the world, including international oil companies and national oil companies (NOCs).
Importantly, around two-thirds of the signatories are NOCs, some of which are among the largest companies in their countries and have significant regional influence.
In 2024, PetroChina, Oil India and Norway’s Vår Energi also joined the OGDC, taking the amount of global oil production covered by the group to 43% from over 6,000 assets across more than 100 countries.
OGCI becomes OGDC Secretariat
At the request of COP28 President Dr Sultan al Jaber, OGCI became OGDC’s Secretariat in 2024. OGCI will act as Secretariat through March 2027.
Signatories to the Charter aim to reach net zero carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (Scope 1 and
2) from their oil and gas operations by 2050, among other objectives. The largest single contribution would come from reducing methane emissions to near zero and eliminating routine flaring from operations under the signatories’ control by 2030.
Other measures to accelerate emissions reductions would include increasing alignment with industry best practices. This could mean, for example, additional reductions from electrification of upstream operations, deployment of CCUS technologies, and use of low-carbon hydrogen.
In 2024, OGCI as Secretariat set up the governance framework for the OGDC and launched a process to collect data to establish a baseline for the Charter’s annual progress tracker.
“OGCI is honoured to be OGDC’s Secretariat for the next three years. OGDC is an important initiative that enables more of the oil and gas industry to work together, and with other stakeholders, to support the aims of the Paris Agreement. We are already sharing the knowledge, experience and best practice we have gained in a decade of work to reduce emissions at oil and gas operations.”
Bjørn Otto Sverdrup, OGCI Executive Committee Chairman and Head of OGDC Secretariat
OGCI Executive Committee Chairman Bjørn Otto Sverdrup at COP28 in Dubai in December 2023.
OGDC governance
- OGDC is governed by three CEO Champions, two of which are founding members of OGCI, and the Signatories Committee. The CEO Champions are Dr Sultan al-Jaber, COP28 President and head of the UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC); Amin Nasser, President and CEO of Aramco; and Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies.
- The Champions’ role is to actively lead and pursue the aims of the Charter, fostering a spirit of collaboration to pursue the Charter’s principles and maintain momentum.
- The Signatories Committee, which is drawn from international oil companies and national oil companies, supports the champions and actively progresses the goals of the charter.
- Six OGCI member companies – Aramco, bp, ExxonMobil, Occidental, Petrobras and TotalEnergies – sit on the Signatories Committee, which also includes ADNOC, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd, PetroChina, Malaysia’s Petronas and Azerbaijan’s Socar.
OGDC Baseline Report
- First report maps out signatories’ emissions reduction ambitions to help prioritize and track future progress.
- Includes results of a survey to determine signatories’ emissions reduction goals, implementation plans, and investment in low-carbon technologies and solutions.
- Published at COP29 in November 2024. See OGDC’s website to learn more.
Sharing knowledge
OGCI, as Secretariat of OGDC, and OGCI’s member companies, are already actively engaged in sharing essential knowledge and best practices with OGDC signatories. This is focused on strengthening capabilities specifically on methane emissions detection, measurement and abatement strategies as well as supporting efforts to establish a robust reporting framework.
The program, which is already operational, includes webinars, regional workshops, 1 to 1 training and sharing of tools and best practice.
OGCI-led sessions for OGDC
Occidental: Methane Emissions Management System (July)
ExxonMobil: Utilizing the marginal abatement cost curve to support GHG reductions (August)
Ipieca & Shell: GHG emissions reporting and baselining (August)
Shell: Scope 1 & 2 emissions decarbonization: Challenges and opportunities (September)
TotalEnergies: Methane emissions detection, quantification, and mitigation (September)
Aramco: Emissions reduction for Asia Pacific region (October)
OGCI helps industry reduce methane emissions
According to the IEA’s Global Methane Tracker, methane emissions originating from venting, fugitives and flaring across the global oil and gas industry are estimated to amount to over 2.3 Gt CO2e in 2023.6
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. However, it remains in the atmosphere for less time than other GHGs. So reducing methane emissions from oil and gas operations to near zero could help deliver a significant near-term reduction in the pace of global warming and be one of the quickest ways7 to accelerate progress toward the Paris Agreement climate goals.
OGCI member companies are aiming to achieve near-zero methane emissions at their upstream operations by 2030. Progress made by OGCI member companies and others have demonstrated that meaningful and cost-effective opportunities exist to drive rapid reductions in methane emissions in the oil and gas industry.
Near-term measures include investing in technologies and proven solutions to minimize venting, fugitive methane emissions, and flaring. Longer-term measures would also require a build-out of gas handling infrastructure to process the additional methane that would otherwise have been released to the atmosphere.
OGCI is working through a number of initiatives and directly through its flagship Satellite Monitoring Campaign, which is now in its third phase.
GHGSat methane-detecting satellites in orbit. Credit GHGSat.
Making the invisible visible
Detection and measurement of methane emissions is a critically important first step to reducing methane emissions.
Technologies such as drones, satellites, sensors and use of artificial intelligence to process data have scaled up in the past decade, helping industry participants to detect, monitor and improve quantification of methane emissions.
Satellite monitoring helps to detect leaks to aid reduction of fugitive emissions and product losses. Technologies such as drones fitted with sensors and thermal gas imaging can be used to measure and quantify emissions.
In 2021, OGCI launched the Satellite Monitoring Campaign (SMC) with GHGSat, providing satellite monitoring of methane, and Carbon Limits providing in-depth knowledge of methane emissions in developing countries.
The SMC aimed to explore the potential of using satellite monitoring to identify and provide information to help local operators mitigate significant methane emissions.
Pilot
The SMC pilot campaign in Iraq in late 2021, successfully demonstrated the use of satellite monitoring as part of a program to help reduce methane emissions. In the pilot program, GHGSat collected high-resolution satellite data on methane plumes over Iraq.
OGCI then worked with Carbon Limits to engage confidentially with local operators on a peer-to-peer level. The campaign used the data to help identify emissions sources, and shared knowledge, expertise and information on potential solutions to support the operators’ work to abate the methane emissions that were detected.
The pilot was able to help local operators quickly address methane plumes of an estimated 1 Mt of CO2e over the course of one year.
Since the first pilot, OGCI has significantly scaled up the campaign to include more countries and assets, and has had further quick wins enabling local operators to reduce methane emissions.
Results from Iraq pilot
GHGSat conducted over
high-resolution satellite observations over six large oilfields in Iraq.
The most common methane sources observed were gas flaring, direct venting and maintenance events.
Over
of satellite observations were able to identify and quantify emission rates.
The average methane emission rate is
per hour
This is equivalent to the hourly energy use of
US homes10
Phase 2
The 2022-2023 campaign over Kazakhstan, Algeria and Egypt helped operators to eliminate methane plumes with a combined average rate of 3,200 kilograms an hour.
If these plumes were from continuously emitting sources and were not abated, they could amount to an estimated equivalent of around 1 Mt CO2e over the course of one year.9
OGCI is continuing to engage through the campaign with the local operators in these countries to help identify solutions to mitigate the remaining persistent emissions sources.
Incomplete combustion from burning pits, gathering pipeline emissions, equipment and storage tank venting comprised the top four sources of methane emissions identified in the campaign.
In this second phase of the campaign, GHGSat performed over 530 high-resolution observations during one year over a total of 18 pre-selected sites, using its own satellites and public satellite data.
The areas surveyed included oil and gas producing assets operated by OGCI members and non-members.10
Results from phase 2
Four biggest sources of methane emissions
incomplete combustion from burning pits
gathering pipeline emissions
equipment venting
storage tank venting
methane plumes
already mitigated in Algeria and Kazakhstan
- Combined average emissions rate of 3,200 kg/hour
- Estimated equivalent of 1Mt CO2e during one year*
* If these plumes were from continuously emitting sources and were not abated, they could amount to an estimated 1Mt of CO2e over the course of one year. (Using IPCC AR 6 GWP for methane.)
Estimated cost of detecting the methane emissions already eliminated in Algeria and Kazakhstan*
*Results of OGCI Satellite Monitoring Campaign 2022-2023 over Kazakhstan, Algeria and Egypt, March 2024, p.14.
“OGCI’s SMC is a model that works to help accelerate action on methane emissions. In Kazakhstan we’ve seen that the campaign has facilitated best practice sharing and increased engagement with local operators – building capabilities and sharing expertise and solutions more broadly throughout the industry to enable reductions of methane emissions.”
Lower Carbon Advisor, Chevron
Phase 3
Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions
In March 2022, OGCI launched the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative. It was founded on the principle that companies should treat their methane emissions as seriously as they do safety incidents and strive to reach near zero methane emissions from operated oil and gas assets by 2030.
Participation in the initiative, which is open to the entire industry, now numbers over 100 companies. It includes private and state-run energy companies, service firms, technology providers, non-governmental organizations, and consultancies.
Signatories and supporters of Aiming for Zero believe that virtually all upstream methane emissions from the industry can and should be avoided.
Signatories aim to reach near zero methane emissions from their operations by 2030, use all reasonable means to avoid methane emissions, report transparently, adopt better monitoring and measurement technologies and support the implementation of sound regulations.
Supporters, including service companies, technology/ technical suppliers, oil and gas commodity traders, consultancies, investment groups and financial institutions strive to have a positive influence on reducing methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.
“As the first African national oil and gas company to join this initiative, Sonangol demonstrates its commitment to the future of the planet. Today, more than ever, we reaffirm our ambition to ensure decarbonization and the reduction of emissions from our operations, ensuring a just transition that maintains the socioeconomic development of society.”
CEO, Sonangol
The initiative’s clear and straightforward ambition aims to help companies take action within their organizations, fast-track the deployment, maintenance and upgrading of physical assets, and invest in new technologies and training to help reduce virtually all methane emissions.
Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions from operated oil and gas assets by 2030 is already becoming a standard reference point, as OGCI’s upstream methane intensity target did before it.
Aiming for Zero workshop
In March 2024, OGCI led a workshop for signatories and supporters to discuss collaboration around standards, measurement and mitigation of methane emissions.
Around 35 participants joined the session, which was moderated by the Climate Intelligence Program at Rocky Mountain Institute – a Colorado-based clean energy think tank.
“By joining this initiative, Ecopetrol will gain additional focus to elevate our methane reduction ambitions and advance fast through our commitment with a fair and equitable energy transition. Moreover, it serves as an opportunity to encourage fellow companies in the oil and gas industry to expedite their endeavors in curbing methane emissions.”
CEO, Ecopetrol
Issues discussed included:
- The importance of satellite monitoring in methane emissions mitigation;
- How to raise awareness of the opportunities and challenges of methane abatement;
- The need to clarify and align on the definition of near zero;
- The influence the initiative has already had in shifting the mindset on methane – in particular its adoption in the text of the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter, which was launched at COP28.
Other OGCI initiatives to reduce methane emissions
OGCI works with international institutions, think tanks and organizations to develop programs and tools to monitor and measure methane emissions, identify abatement opportunities and share best practices. These include:
Flaring data platform
- OGCI is working with the World Bank’s Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership (GFMR) and US-based Payne Institute for Public Policy to launch a more accessible platform on global gas flaring data.
- The platform aims to further improve the transparency and accessibility of data on flaring with a new consolidated platform designed to help oil and gas companies more easily locate and reduce emissions from flared natural gas at their operations.
- The World Bank’s Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report estimated that in 2023 gas global gas flaring at upstream oil and gas facilities released 381 Mt of CO2e. This includes 45 Mt CO2e in the form of unburned methane.11
- Flaring volumes are one of the largest sources of methane emissions. Reducing these volumes could play an important role in slowing global warming and meeting climate goals.
Guidance and best practice to support operators
In 2023, OGCI published guidance on how to achieve near zero methane emissions.
- The guidance sets out a four-step pathway and provides examples of targets, standards and protocols for methane emissions to aid companies.
- This includes relevant information from OGCI, UNEP’s reporting and mitigation program the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership 2.0, the Natural Gas Sustainability Initiative, gas certification non-profit MiQ and the World Bank.
Detection and quantification technologies
- In 2023, OGCI released a recommended practices guide with Ipieca and the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) to help operators select and deploy methane detection and quantification technologies.
- The guide includes a simple online tool to aid technology selection
- IEA, World Energy Outlook 2023, Emissions from Oil and Gas Operations in Net Zero Transitions
- European Commission: Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research
- Provisional estimate of global oil and gas production of approximately 165 Mboe/day in 2023, based on IEA indicators for oil production of 97.8 Mboe/day and global natural gas production of 67.3 Mboe/day, IEA Oil Market Report (January 2024), IEA Gas Market Report Q1 2024. OGCI member companies’ 2023 total oil and gas production was 43.3 Mboe/day, OGCI Performance Data.
- IEA Emissions from Oil and Gas Operations in Net Zero Transitions, OGCI Performance Data, Chapter 4.
- See OGDC Charter
- The IPCC has noted that a high degree of uncertainty remains regarding methane emissions estimates from oil and gas operations.
- IEA Global Methane Tracker, 2023
- Calculated using the US EPA GHG equivalencies calculator
- If these plumes were from continuously emitting sources and were not abated, they could amount to an estimated equivalent of around 1 Mt of CO2e over the course of one year. Using IPCC AR6 global warming potential for methane
- OGCI Satellite Monitoring Campaign 2022-2023, p. 9
Based on preliminary GHGSat data using emission rates of the top 50 persistently emitting assets based on historical GHGSat data.
