Qatar State-Owned Oil And Gas Company To Cut Emissions

The state-owned oil and gas company Qatar Energy said Monday it is joining a new industry-led initiative to reduce nearly all methane emissions from operations by 2030.

It comes as part of a broader global push to tackle emissions from methane, or natural gas, which is the second most polluting climate-changing gas after carbon dioxide, and much more potent than CO2.

Unlike carbon dioxide, though, methane’s leakage into the atmosphere is not the result of combustion or fuel-burning, instead it represents the loss of a marketable fuel.

Methane is responsible for about a quarter of all the climate change already being experienced worldwide.

Technology has allowed energy companies, independent groups and citizen sleuths to monitor methane leakage with cameras, drones and satellites.

This monitoring along with greater climate change awareness is pushing companies to reduce their methane emissions and fix leakages from faulty pipes and other equipment.

With its pledge, Qatar Energy joins an initiative launched in March of this year by 12 other major oil and gas companies, including Aramco, BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Shell and others.

Qatar is among the world’s top liquefied natural gas exporters and Qatar Energy operates all of the country’s oil and gas exploration and production, making the peninsula-nation among the world’s richest per capita.

The tiny country, which borders Saudi Arabia to the east, shares control with Iran of the world’s largest underwater natural gas field in the Persian Gulf.