Energy industry methane emissions rise close to record in 2023

Emissions of greenhouse gas responsible for a third of global warming ‘unacceptably high’, says energy watchdog.

Methane emissions from the energy sector approached record highs last year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned.

In a report released on Wednesday, the global watchdog said the fossil fuel industry’s emissions of the potent greenhouse gas, responsible for about 30 percent of global warming, reached more than 120 million metric tonnes in 2023. That put emissions close to the record set in 2019, despite the sector having promised to use freely available technology to reduce their levels.

Despite pledges made by the oil and gas industry to bring down large-scale emission spikes by plugging infrastructure leaks, they jumped by 50 percent last year compared with 2022. One disastrous well blowout in Kazakhstan, recorded by satellites, lasted more than 200 days.

Oil and gas firms have pledged to slash their methane emissions by 2050, but their commitments have not been backed up by detailed plans. Reduction of methane, second only to carbon dioxide for its contribution to rising temperatures, is essential to meeting international targets on climate change.