Reduce oil and gas production, don’t just make it leak less methane
What sort of climate deal is a summit hosted by the world’s third-largest net oil exporter most likely to pull off? The type that boosts revenues for petroleum companies. The Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter unveiled at the United Nations CoP-28 summit in Dubai counts as one of the most substantive pacts to have emerged from the conference so far. The agreement includes most of the traditional Western oil majors, state producers from Saudi Arabia and hosts the United Arab Emirates, between them accounting for about 40% of global oil output.
The agreement talks about cracking down on tonnes of methane pumped into the atmosphere through leaks at oil and gas-fields and flares burning off surplus gas. Campaigners will rightly complain that the pledges are unenforceable, making the deal little better than a pinky promise. A similar vow to end routine gas flaring was agreed upon at CoP-21 in Paris, and there’s precious little evidence it’s going to meet its targets.
The Global Methane Pledge was one of the centerpieces of the Glasgow CoP-26 conference. Roughly a quarter of the warming to date has been caused by methane. Over the coming century, each tonne of CH4 emitted will heat the atmosphere by as much as 28 tonnes of CO2.
Petroleum producers must be motivated to do something about the problem. Natural gas, which is almost entirely methane, is still running at elevated prices, with European futures for the 2024-25 winter peak season at more than double the level they were at three years ago. Capturing that valuable commodity and selling it—instead of venting it or burning it as waste gas—should be extremely profitable.
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