Precise infrared technology and evolving regulations are revolutionizing emissions tracking.

For too long, the issue of methane in the energy sector has been out of sight and out of mind. But with each passing year, attention is growing.

Despite being one of the biggest contributors to global warming, methane has gone unnoticed by industry for years. This invisible gas, second only to carbon dioxide in pollution, has caused 20 to 30 percent of all recorded temperature increases over the past 200 years,¹ but it has failed to attract the same attention from those willing to act. Poor data collection and monitoring have led to rising levels of methane in the atmosphere, and leaky infrastructure and operations that spew the gas often go unchecked.

But growing awareness of the threat has prompted increased action from both industry and regulators, with a raft of new targets and measures in place to reduce emissions worldwide and hold energy operators accountable for their contributions. Coupled with advances in gas detection technology that give the energy sector the tools it needs to improve monitoring, the methane tide could be turning.

Improving emission monitoring

The importance of data when it comes to methane emissions cannot be overstated. Solid information is essential for everything from establishing baselines to setting reduction goals. Without understanding where and at what scale emissions are occurring, operators cannot effectively target repairs and maintenance or track their progress over time.

Despite promising improvements in the quality of methane emissions reporting, estimates are still subject to uncertainty. There is a noticeable gap between the data collected by scientists and official measurements and the data reported by energy operators. For example, while the Global Methane Budget and International Agency estimate emissions from oil and gas operations at about 84 metric tons (MT) per year,² figures provided by countries to the United Nations (UN) are about half that amount, and estimates based on company-provided data are even lower. Extrapolating reports to the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 to cover the rest of the industry gives methane emissions estimates of just 5 MT.

Explanations for this discrepancy vary. It is possible that only better-performing national governments report their data to the UN, meaning that estimates may not accurately reflect industry performance. Too often, official data is based on outdated or inaccurate reporting.

The problem with inaccurate data is immediately apparent. The lack of clear mapping of emissions is leading to underestimation of their scale, and potentially missing larger, one-off, accidental ‘super-emission’ events. Urgent action will be needed to improve emissions monitoring if the oil and gas sector is to improve its environmental reputation.

Change of regulations

In today’s regulatory environment, tracking emissions is no longer an expectation – in many parts of the world, accurate monitoring and reporting is becoming a requirement.

In May 2024, the first-ever European Union (EU) rules on methane emissions in the energy sector came into force, requiring oil and gas operators to actively monitor and report any methane emissions to high standards and take concrete steps to reduce them once they are identified.³ Businesses must also cease all flaring and venting activities, and limit this practice to only where absolutely necessary, such as safety-critical incidents.

This regulation will have an impact on emissions from imports. Often, EU countries’ domestic energy methane emissions are lower than their imports, so the EU regulation will require countries to ensure that imported fossil fuels are produced to the same rigorous data monitoring standards as domestic operations. These requirements will become increasingly stringent over time, ultimately ensuring that exporters operate to the same monitoring and detection standards as EU companies.

The measures have the potential to transform the energy sector’s environmental footprint by radically overhauling transparency around methane emissions. By law, all reports will have to be independently verified, and periodic checks will be carried out by national authorities to ensure compliance. This requirement should go a long way to improving the accuracy of data companies have.

Around the world, more and more countries are developing their own regulations or opening investment opportunities to improve transparency of methane data. In the U.S., for example, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have submitted applications for $850 million in funding for methane monitoring, measurement and reduction programs.⁴ This investment, which is part of the Inflation Reduction Act, is consistent with the goals of reducing methane emissions from parts of the oil and gas sector by 80%.