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More than a dozen of the world's largest oil and gas companies are expanding satellite monitoring campaigns to detect methane emissions in emerging economies, following the discovery of 26 massive leaks of globally warming methane gas over Kazakhstan, Egypt and Algeria.

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, which includes Shell, Saudi Aramco and Exxon Mobil, told the Financial Times it planned to expand its year-long monitoring campaign, which ends in August 2023, to seven to Eight new countries. It claims the activity is already reducing methane emissions.

As of October 2023, two operators in Kazakhstan and Algeria have blocked three large methane sources that together emit 3,200 kilograms of methane per hour, equivalent to the carbon emissions of nearly 4,000 gasoline cars per hour.

OGCI is working with four operators to find solutions to remaining emissions sources, according to a report to be released Monday at CERAWeek, a major energy conference in Houston.

The report did not identify any of the operators responsible for the methane leaks, saying it was crucial to build trusting relationships rather than “naming and blaming.”

“We are able to detect emissions and then use advanced technology to make the gas visible – that’s just the first step. We then leverage the unique channels the company has to work with local operators even in remote areas.” OGCI Executive said committee chairman Bjørn Otto Sverdrup, a former executive at Norwegian energy company Equinor.

The campaign from OGCI, a CEO-led organization that accounts for about 30% of global oil and gas production, comes as policymakers are increasingly concerned about the climate threat posed by methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure.

This invisible gas is more than 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere over a 20-year period. Experts estimate that methane is responsible for nearly one-third of the increase in global temperatures caused by global emissions since the start of the industrial era.

Although more than 150 countries committed to reducing methane emissions at the COP28 Conference of the Parties in Dubai in December, emissions remain near record levels.

A report released last week by the International Energy Agency said the oil and gas industry emitted more than 120 million tons of methane into the atmosphere last year, a slight increase from 2022.

The United States is the world's largest oil and gas producer and the largest emitter of oil and gas operations, followed by Russia, the report said.

The OGCI report focuses on the group's work with national oil companies and joint venture partners with extensive fossil fuel infrastructure, as well as the use of satellite monitoring through a partnership with OGCI-funded company GHGSat. But it also highlights some of the challenges the industry faces in identifying and fixing methane leaks and reducing emissions in emerging economies.

Of the 26 large and persistent methane sources identified by satellites, only 15 were subsequently confirmed on the ground by local operators. In some cases, the leak may have stopped, or the source cannot be found. In many of the identified cases, action is still needed to reduce emissions from identified leaks, the report said.

The main sources of methane emissions identified were methane emissions and incomplete combustion from leaks in equipment and storage tanks, equipment and pipelines, and incomplete combustion in waste liquid and gas combustion pits from fossil fuel production.

Satellite detection is an increasingly important tool for detecting methane leaks, especially in emerging countries that typically are less concerned about greenhouse gas emissions than advanced economies.

Environmental Defense Fund analyst Andrew Baxter said the OGCI initiative is important because it combines satellite detection with peer-to-peer engagement and technical and financial support to address emissions issues.

“Maybe just reducing methane emissions would be enough. But I think transparency is a huge incentive for people to take action,” Baxter said, adding that a new methane-sniffing satellite launched this month by EDF will provide full transparency.

Additional reporting by Amanda Chu