Oil Giant Shell Data Under Scrutiny as Methane Emissions Soar

Methane is much worse for the climate than carbon dioxide, and emissions continue to rise despite global efforts to control them. Over a third of methane emissions come from fossil fuel production and operation. Oil majors, led by Shell, publicly claim to be reducing their methane pollution, but scientists, experts, and watchdogs warn that industry data reporting is misleading, write Fermin Koop, Michael Buchsbaum and Samuel Ajala.

Despite years of awareness about the climate crisis, greenhouse gas levels continue to soar. Historically, much of the focus has been on carbon dioxide, but it is now clear that a rapid and sustained reduction in methane is also key to limiting global warming. Methane has over 80 times the heat-trapping potential of carbon dioxide over 20 years, and it has contributed to over 30% of global temperature rise since the Industrial Revolution, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Unlike carbon dioxide, which is a wasteful by-product of human activities, methane is a sought-after gas, produced by fracking and other gas-extraction methods.

Shell, one of the world's largest oil and gas producers and a leader in industry efforts to control methane, reported a decrease in total methane emissions from its operations from 50,000 metric tons in 2021 to 40,000 metric tons in 2022, a 27% reduction. It also claims to have met its target to keep methane emissions intensity below 0.2%. However, the way fossil giants calculate their emissions is flawed. Currently, only a small number of producers regularly take field measurements and do routine maintenance on equipment to determine leakages or other accidental emissions.

According to statistics provided by Nigeria's National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) and the Gas Flaring Tracker satellite of the World Bank, oil companies throughout the nation, including Shell, have flared about $3.9 billion worth of gas in the last four years.