Emissions from oil and gas activities
Globally, the 14 biggest individual GHG emitters in 2021 were all oil and gas fields, which, combined, emitted roughly 1.4 GtCO₂e. Half of these major polluters were located in Russia and the U.S., by far the two largest contributors of oil and gas production and transport emissions. Oil and gas fields around the world are operated by major fossil fuel companies such as ExxonMobil, Shell, and Saudi Aramco, which over the last 60 years have released hundreds of billions of tons of GHGs into the atmosphere. Saudi Aramco alone was responsible for an estimated 60 GtCO₂e between 1965 and 2018, or roughly four percent of the entire world’s GHG emissions during that period.Oil and gas operations are one of the largest sources of methane emissions, releasing some 80 million tons of this potent GHG each year. These emissions are largely released by the upstream segment from intentional practices like venting and flaring, as well as through unintentional leakages, known as fugitive emissions. Advanced technologies like aircraft, drones, and satellites are now being used to monitor methane emissions from the oil and gas industry. In 2022, satellites detected numerous and significant methane leaks at oil and gas fields around the world – particularly in Turkmenistan, the U.S., and Russia. These super-emitter events release hundreds of tons of methane every hour and can last several months.
