Governments and companies notified of methane leaks by the UN-run International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) only reported back on actions taken to resolve the leaks in 1pc of cases this year, the organisation said today at the UN Cop 29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan.
IMEO has since 2023 run the Methane Alert Response System (MARS), a service using satellite data to warn states and companies about methane leaks, allowing them to take action to mitigate. Methane is deemed responsible for roughly one third of global temperature increase since the industrial revolution, and efforts to reduce emissions of the gas have gathered pace in recent years as measurement and reporting infrastructure has improved.
But the response by governments and operators to MARS notifications has hardly kept pace with the system's capabilities, IMEO said.
IMEO made 1,225 notifications of detected methane plumes to governments and companies in the first nine months of 2024. Of these notifications only 43pc were acknowledged by the recipients. Recipients responded with information about the source of the emissions and any mitigation action taken in only 15 cases, or roughly 1pc.
Turkmenistan received the most notifications, at 388, or 32pc of the total. The US, Iran and Algeria followed, each receiving more than 100 notifications, with the four top countries accounting for almost two-thirds of notifications.
But there have been some notable success stories, including the halting of a leak at Algeria's Hassi Messaoud oilfield, which is estimated to have been emitting 27,500t/yr of methane since at least 1999, IMEO said.
OGMP 2.0 signups slow
The number of new firms joining the UN's Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP 2.0) programme fell to 20 this year, below the 35 new members added last year.
The voluntary initiative provides a framework and support for oil and gas companies to measure, report and reduce their methane emissions. It now counts 140 member companies, who account for 42pc of global oil and gas production.
Requirements on participants to improve measurements rachet up over time, and as the scheme has entered its third year, many participants have had to demonstrate for the first time detailed source-level measurements in order to maintain their "gold standard" quality badge.
New data suggest that a gap observed between reported emissions of OGMP member firms and atmospheric methane concentrations may be a result of a mix of underreporting among OGMP members and higher methane intensity at non-OGMP firms.
Atmospheric observations suggest global methane emissions from hydrocarbons stand at 80mn-140mn t/yr. But OGMP members accounting for 28pc of global production reported emissions of only 1.1mn t in 2023.
Underreporting may occur because firms are at the initial lower levels of the programme, and report only less-accurate estimates based on emissions factors, IMEO said. And data from many major assets are missing, while other hydrocarbon infrastructure at which leaks occur is operated by non-OGMP member firms.
But OGMP firms may indeed have lower methane intensity than non-OGMP firms, both because they have a higher proportion of far-offshore assets, fewer small wellpads which are prone to leak more, and because having decided to take part in the programme they are more conscientious.
The increasing requirements on participants to improve their measurements will likely further clarify the reasons behind this gap in the coming years, IMEO said.
