17 May 2023
Methane leaks from Turkmenistan’s two main fossil fuel fields caused more global heating in 2022 than the entire carbon emissions of the UK.
Methane traps 80x more heat than CO2 over 20 years and is responsible for almost half of short-term climate warning. According to data from Kayrros, the fossil fuel field on the Caspian Sea coast alone leaked 2.6m tonnes of methane in 2022 and the eastern field emitted 1.8m tonnes. This means that together, the fields released emissions equivalent to 366m tonnes of CO2, more than the UK’s annual emissions, which are the 17th largest in the world. There are two key issues slowing the process for improving methane leaks.
Firstly, detecting methane leaks has not always been easy. Flaring is used to burn unwanted gas (putting CO2 into the atmosphere) and whilst it has been frowned upon in recent years, the leak it is easy to identify from the flame itself. Venting on the other hand releases invisible methane into the air unburned and is far harder to identify, though there have been technology improvements in satellite imaging for detection in the last two years. Venting is far worse for the climate. There are also undetected methane emissions coming from offshore oil and gas installations in the Caspian Sea, but the ability of satellite to measure methane levels over water is still being developed.
Secondly, politics. Turkmenistan is China’s second biggest supplier of gas, after Australia, and has plans to double its exports to the country. Whilst leaks could be prevented by maintenance and fixing valves and pipes from Soviet-era equipment and practices, there is little incentive to do so as the country has a huge gas resource where up until 2018 its citizens were getting free gas and electricity. The world’s fourth largest natural gas reserve country is also not part of any pledge or initiative such as the Global Methane Pledge (150 country signatories pledge to cut emissions) or members of the voluntary UN initiative to cut leaks with the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 which covers 40% of global oil and gas production, though had the opportunity to join both.
We may see change in this space as there have been diplomatic efforts ahead of the COP28 hosted in the UAE later this year, where officials want to work with Turkmenistan to improve the methane leaks.
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