Oil giants pledge big on methane, prove little
Orisemeke Benjamin
Oil and gas companies are promising more on emissions than they are proving, a new global assessment has found, even as gas flaring rose to nearly 170 billion cubic metres in 2025.
The assessment, developed by the International Energy Agency (IEA), UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory (IMEO) and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), scored 113 of the world’s largest oil and gas companies. Together they account for about 80 percent of global production.
The study applies a 25-metric framework tracking progress from targets, through implementation strategies, to disclosure of investment, emissions and results.
The headline score is modest. The average company score rose from 9 in 2023 to 10 on latest reporting, with improvement on 18 of the 25 metrics. The report says the findings highlight “a substantial gap” between corporate commitments and public evidence that they are being carried out.
The stakes are large. Methane emissions from the sector remain close to 80 million tonnes a year. The report says cutting them would limit near-term warming while “reducing energy waste and strengthening energy security.”
Companies have made the most progress on implementation strategies, doing more to identify methane sources, quantify abatement opportunities and assess mitigation options. But detailed investment plans, and evidence linking activities to expected emissions cuts, “remain much less widespread.”
Performance is also uneven. Members of the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0, the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter and the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) scored significantly higher than their peers. Eight of the ten highest-scoring companies are OGCI members. At the other end, 18 companies published no sustainability report covering any year from 2023 to 2025.
The most telling finding is that better disclosure has not yet produced visible cuts. Self-reported methane and operational greenhouse gas emissions show little overall difference between 2023 and 2025. Companies reported lower flaring, yet independent estimates point to rising global flaring. The report says this underlines the importance of “strengthening measurement and independent data.”
Historical investment in clean energy and operational emissions reductions rose among companies that reported it. Forward-looking investment plans remain relatively rare.
The authors caution that transparency is not the goal.
Public disclosure, they say, is “not an end in itself, nor is it a substitute for emissions reductions.” Its value lies in showing whether the strategies and measurement systems needed to deliver cuts are in place.
To close the gap, the report urges companies to set quantified emissions reduction pathways and show the investment and actions behind them. It also calls for better measurement and disclosure, extending emissions management to non-operated assets and joint ventures, and consistent reporting of progress.
That would let governments, investors and civil society judge whether industry pledges are becoming “real emissions reductions.”
