HOUSTON, March 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) today launched the Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative which calls for an all-in approach that treats oil and gas methane emissions as seriously as the industry already treats safety: aiming for zero and striving to do what is needed to get there.

We recognize that eliminating methane emissions from the upstream oil and gas industry represents one of the best short-term opportunities for contributing to climate change mitigation and for advancing the goals of the Paris Agreement.

The Initiative is already supported by the CEOs of Aramco, bp, Chevron, CNPC, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Occidental, Petrobras, Repsol, Shell and TotalEnergies. OGCI encourages all oil and gas companies to join them in this approach.

Signatories to Aiming for Zero Methane Emissions Initiative believe that virtually all methane emissions from the industry can and should be avoided, building on the following:

1. We will strive to reach near zero methane emissions from our operated oil and gas assets by 2030, and we will encourage our partners to achieve similar results.
2. We will put in place all reasonable means to avoid methane venting and flaring, and to repair detected leaks, while preserving the safety of people and the integrity of operations.
3. Signatories will report annually and transparently on their methane emissions.
4. As technology evolves, we will supplement methane emissions estimates with more monitoring and measurement technologies, and introduce new solutions to avoid methane emissions. We welcome the continued improvement of measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) mechanisms.
5. We support the implementation of sound regulations to tackle methane emissions and encourage governments to include methane emissions reduction targets as part of their climate strategies.

This leadership initiative supplements important multi-stakeholder initiatives, such as the Methane Guiding Principles, the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 and the Global Methane Alliance.

OGCI has already taken significant action to reduce methane emissions, setting targets, developing and deploying technologies and participating in multi-stakeholder initiatives to raise awareness and improve practices. The member companies have reported collective progress on methane since 2017 and have reduced their aggregate absolute methane emissions by more than 30% in the last five years.

OGCI remains committed to its methane intensity target of well below 0.20% by 2025 and will be reviewing its shared targets for 2025 and onwards, to account for this new initiative and its new strategy launched in September 2021.

"We recognize that eliminating methane emissions from the upstream oil and gas industry represents one of the best short-term opportunities for contributing to climate change mitigation and for advancing the goals of the Paris agreement," said OGCI Chair, Bob Dudley. "The time has come for us to go further, and we believe that the oil and gas industry can and should lead this effort."

Bjorn Otto Sverdrup, OGCI Executive Committee Chair said, "With this leadership initiative, we are calling for an all-in approach that treats methane emissions as seriously as the oil and gas industry already treats safety: we aim for zero and we will strive to do what is needed to get there. We are encouraging all oil and gas companies to join us in this approach."

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative

The Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) was founded in 2014 and today consists of 12 global oil & gas majors representing around 30% of the world's total oil and gas production.

OGCI's overarching mission is to use its collective resources to accelerate actions that mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions from the oil and gas industry's operations and the use of its products, while still meeting the world's energy needs.

All OGCI member companies aim to reach net zero emissions from operations under their control, and also to leverage their influence to achieve the same in non-operated assets, within the timeframe set by the Paris agreement. OGCI member companies have pledged to stay action-oriented, report transparently, and update the Consortium's ambitions as progress towards net zero is achieved.