01/10/26
Oil, gas industry can deliver more emission cuts: OGCI
Oil, gas industry can deliver more emission cuts: OGCI
Edinburgh, 1 October (Argus) — Major oil and gas companies meeting their 2025
carbon and methane intensity targets shows the wider industry can deliver
further emissions reductions from operated assets, although financial and
geopolitical obstacles remain, the industry-led Oil and Gas Climate Initiative
(OGCI) said today. The 12 OGCI members reduced their average upstream carbon
intensity from operated assets to 16.5kg of CO2 equivalent per barrel of oil
equivalent (CO₂e/boe) in 2025, from 17.2kg CO2e/boe in 2024. The group's
voluntary target was to reach or be below 17kg CO2e/boe last year. Their
collective upstream methane intensity was 0.13pc in 2025, compared with 0.12pc a
year earlier, meeting their ambition to stay below 0.20pc. Methane intensity is
calculated as emissions from operated upstream assets as a share of marketed
gas. OGCI members comprise state-controlled Saudi Aramco, BP, Chevron, China's
CNPC, Italy's Eni, Norway's Equinor, ExxonMobil, US firm Occidental, Brazil's
Petrobras, Spain's Repsol, Shell and TotalEnergies. The members' total operated
scope 1 emissions, including from downstream operations, fell to 542mn t of CO2e
in 2025, from 545mn t a year earlier and 709mn t in the 2017 base year. Their
upstream methane emissions fell to 760,000t in 2025 from 1.95mn t in 2017.
Operated oil and gas production from the 12 companies rose by 3pc on the year to
43.4mn boe/d in 2025, equivalent to around 24pc of global output. But their
operated upstream assets accounted for only 1pc of methane emissions from global
oil and gas operations, according to OGCI. "We continue to believe that flaring
can come down for the OGCI members and the industry at large," OGCI executive
committee chairman Bjorn Otto Sverdrup said. The biggest opportunity for OGCI
members to reduce flaring further is through their non-operated joint ventures
and partnerships, he said. The firms reduced upstream gas flaring by 62pc from
2017 levels to 9.2bn m³ in 2025. Routine flaring fell by 74pc from its 2018
baseline to 1.45bn m³. The companies are showing that methane emissions can be
reduced across oil and gas assets globally, OGCI managing director Julien Perez
said. OGCI also acts as the secretariat of the Oil and Gas Decarbonization
Charter (OGDC), giving it direct links to national oil companies (NOCs) in
emerging economies. A total of 56 oil and gas companies have signed the charter
since its launch at the UN Cop 28 climate summit in 2023. Awareness of methane
leaks is essential to fixing them, and so access to data, measurements and
detection technologies including satellites and drones is crucial, Perez said.
OGCI is helping companies outside the initiative by using aircraft to assess
leaks, supported by data from non-profit organisation Carbon Mapper, as well as
providing advice. Financing constraints, geopolitical pressure Many methane
leaks can often be reduced without mobilising large sums of capital, but in some
cases it requires substantial spending, Perez said. The operating environment
and the regulatory landscape vary from country to country, and for some NOCs,
allocating capital to reducing methane leaks is not easy, he said, pointing out
that the cost of debt is much higher for firms in developing countries. "It is a
long process, and they need finance and raise debt," Perez said. OGCI is working
closely with the World Bank's Global Flaring and Methane Reduction Partnership
fund to lower financing costs for these companies. But geopolitical and
sanctions restrictions prevent OGCI from working in some countries where methane
leaks are known to be substantial, according to Perez. The UN has more capacity
to address the potential for emissions reductions in those countries, Perez
said. "The geopolitical context has been challenging with the Ukraine crisis and
now the crisis in the Middle East, but the message from the CEOs [in the OGCI]
is to stay the course" on reducing emissions and flaring, Perez said. The Middle
East conflict is particularly challenging for Gulf oil and gas companies, "but
we have not seen changes in their desire to maintain a clear focus on the goals
they have set", he said. By Caroline Varin Send comments and request more
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