A lack of transparency around compliance with Mexican methane regulations remains pervasive five years after their approval, environmental organizations said today.
Just 28pc of oil and gas companies operating in Mexico have submitted methane emissions programs two years after regulations took effect, according to freedom of information requests conducted by the Mexican Methane Emissions Observatory.
‘It is fundamental to improve the transparency around compliance if we really want to understand what is happening with methane emissions in Mexico,' Juan Mendez of environmental group Our Future said today.
Methane regulations require oil and gas operators to submit a six-year methane reduction plan as well as a yearly leak prevention and detection program and while the number of companies complying with regulations has increased from just 7pc last year, the Observatory cautioned the data may not provide the full picture given the lack of transparency.
Methane emissions contribute to global warming, a phenomenon that is driving global climate change.
Mexico's oil and gas sector emitted 16.9mn metric tonnes of methane in 2019, representing 10pc of Mexico's total 176mn t of methane released that year, the government's most recent emissions inventory data showed.
Some 66pc of Mexican methane emissions are from flaring and venting, 27pc from the refining process and 3pc from fugitive emissions but could be reduced cost-effectively with existing technology, according to the Paris-based IEA.
Mexico's state-owned Pemex has battled to control routine flaring among an uptick in accidents over the past two years, maturing fields with a high nitrogen content and delays to infrastructure in new fields.
Environmental law group Cemda, together with the Mexico Climate Initiative think-tank and the Our Future non-profit organization, launched the Observatory last year to improve transparency around emissions data. The group also pressures authorities and companies into compliance with regulations and international climate agreements, but little has changed over the past year despite a government pledge to spend $2bn on reducing flaring to just 2pc of production.
Pemex has reduced flaring over the past year to 393mn cf/d of gas during the third quarter, 20pc below the same quarter last year. But an offshore platform fire in July increased flaring by 35pc from the previous quarter.
The deployment of the $2bn investment is also unclear as Pemex has not provided any information.
