If you’ve ever looked at a flare burning brightly above a liquefied natural gas facility, it pretty much looks just like any other flame. But from above, satellites detect something more alarming: a colossal plume of methane. Methane is an invisible yet extremely potent gas, accelerating climate change. It’s about 84 times more potent than CO2 at trapping heat, although it’s not as long-lived, and in 2024, the world saw more of these “super-emitting” events than ever before.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), fossil fuel operations worldwide released over 120 million tonnes of methane last year, matching near-record levels and showing little sign of decline since 2019. “The latest data indicates that implementation on methane has continued to fall short of ambitions,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
This is yet another climate setback as methane traps enormous amounts of heat.
So why aren’t we doing more to stop it?
Spotting methane from space
Most of the methane from the energy sector doesn’t come from intentional burning, but from leaks. The leaks can be caused by multiple things, from cracks in aging pipelines to faulty valves or maintenance vents in oil and gas infrastructure. In 2024, high-resolution satellite data captured by Europe’s Sentinel-5 revealed a record number of “super-emitting” methane events, with massive plumes recorded across the United States, Turkmenistan, and Russia.
But the full picture is even worse.
The IEA says global methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry are about 80 percent higher than what countries officially report to the United Nations. Much of this underreporting comes from reliance on outdated models and self-reported industry estimates.
This lack of transparency is particularly troubling because the solutions are not just available—they’re affordable. In fact, plugging these holes could essentially pay for itself.
The 2025 edition of the IEA’s Global Methane Tracker emphasizes just how cost-effective fixing methane leaks can be. About 70 percent of methane emissions from fossil fuels could be avoided using existing technology. In fact, a significant share of these fixes would pay for themselves within a year, since captured methane can be sold as natural gas.
This is where oil and gas market intelligence becomes critical. Investors, governments, and companies depend on accurate emissions tracking not just for climate targets, but for assessing energy security and resource management. Methane loss isn’t just an environmental issue—it’s a business one. Knowing where gas is leaking and how much is being lost offers valuable insight for both mitigation and market planning.
As Birol put it, fixing methane leaks offers a “double dividend”: helping stabilize tight gas markets and simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Abandoned, forgotten, and leaking
Beyond operating wells and pipelines, the IEA highlights another culprit: abandoned fossil fuel sites. Old oil and gas wells and defunct coal mines continue to leak methane into the atmosphere. In 2024 alone, these ghost sites contributed 8 million tonnes—enough to rank as the world’s fourth-largest emitter if treated as a single source.
While over 150 countries have signed on to cut methane emissions by 30 percent by 2030, real progress is mixed. The IEA found that although current pledges cover about 80 percent of global oil and gas production, only 5 percent of this output actually meets “near-zero” methane standards.
The disparity is stark. Some countries and companies are 100 times more efficient at controlling emissions than others. “There’s no need for technological breakthroughs to deliver this,” said IEA policy analyst Tomás Bredariol. “Technologies that have been deployed in multiple places around the world very successfully” are already available.
While oil and gas receive much of the attention, coal is still a major blind spot. China, the top emitter of energy-related methane, owes most of that status to its coal sector. Yet, methane from coal often escapes scrutiny.
“Coal mines are still being ignored,” said Sabina Assan, an analyst at the energy think tank Ember. Assan also emphasizes that there are cost-effective technologies available today, so this is a low-hanging fruit of tackling methane. “We can’t let coal mines off the hook any longer,” she adds.
Yet year after year, the data shows more talk than action.
This matters because the world is warming faster than expected. The past two years have each set new global temperature records. With every fraction of a degree, the risk of irreversible tipping points—melting glaciers, dried-out forests, disrupted ocean currents—increases.
Methane isn’t the only problem. But it’s one we know how to fix. And unlike the long road to decarbonizing entire economies, the tools to act on methane are already in hand.
The question is: will governments and industry finally use them?
