Russian LNG Producer Joins Methane Initiative

Private Russian gas producer and LNG plant operator Novatek has signed the Methane Guiding Principles Initiative (MGPI), it said October 7. The MGPI is a partnership between industry and non-industry organisations set up to continually reduce methane emissions along the natural gas value chain.

The upstream gas industry, keen to protect its reputation as a relatively clean energy producer, is threatened by the net zero carbon goals set by many countries, including LNG importers in the European Union (2050) and now China (2060). 

“With a large share of natural gas in our energy production mix, Novatek already has one of the lowest greenhouse gas and methane emissions intensity across the global oil and gas sector. Recently we published our environmental and climate change targets, being the only Russian oil and gas company with methane emissions long-term goal to reduce specific methane emissions by 4% by 2030,” said deputy CEO Mark Gyetvay. “Natural gas will play a vital role towards an environmentally sustainable future and reducing methane leaks to the atmosphere is the single most important and cost-effective way for the industry to bring down greenhouse gas emissions.”

NextDecade, a would-be LNG exporter in the US, announced October 6 that it aimed to make its LNG net zero carbon. This would make it easier to trade, if more expensive to produce.