PetroChina, Sinopec and Other Chinese Energy Giants Ally on Methane Gas Emissions
Liao Shumin
DATE:  May 19 2021
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
PetroChina, Sinopec and Other Chinese Energy Giants Ally on Methane Gas Emissions PetroChina, Sinopec and Other Chinese Energy Giants Ally on Methane Gas Emissions

(Yicai Global) May 19 -- PetroChina and Sinopec, two of China’s biggest oil and gas majors, are among a group of Chinese energy giants that have formed an alliance to curb methane gas emissions.

The two companies joined China National Offshore Oil, PipeChina, Beijing Gas, China Resources Gas and ENN Energy in setting up the grouping in Beijing yesterday, The Paper reported.

Methane is the most abundant greenhouse gas caused by human activity after carbon dioxide, but is 22 times more potent than CO2 in contributing to global warming. Global oil giants have committed to reducing methane emissions by a fifth by 2025, the Oil and Gas Industry Climate Initiative, which includes BP, Exxon Mobil, Petrobras, and Saudi Aramco, said in 2018.

The members of the new Chinese alliance plan to work together to integrate methane gas emissions control into China’s plan to shrink carbon emissions. They will also work to cut the amount of methane from natural gas production to below 0.25 percent by 2025.

China aims to hit peak emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, President Xi Jinping announced at a United Nations General Assembly meeting last September.

The new grouping also discussed building an integrated methane management and control platform covering production, transportation and marketing as well as strengthening monitoring and reporting systems.

It called for pushing forward systematic and international methane monitoring and measuring, promoting effective emissions control measures, including methane leakage detection and repairs, in the whole oil and gas industry chain, and taking steps to boost recycling and use of vent gas in exploration and development.

A report from the United Nations Environment Programme and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition in early May found that more than 95 percent of global methane emissions arising from human activities come from three industries: 35 percent from fossil fuels, 20 percent from waste treatment and 40 percent from agriculture.

In fossil fuel emissions, 23 percent is from extraction, processing, and transportation of oil and gas, and 12 percent from coal mining, it added.

Editor: Peter Thomas

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Keywords:   Methane Emissions Control,PetroChina,Sinopec