Top 5 Methane Polluters

Oftentimes when we’re talking about pollution we’re only taking into consideration the carbon dioxide emissions, but the top 5 methane polluters in the world actually do a lot more damage.

That’s because methane is 87 times more potent than carbon dioxide over a 20-year time scale. Of course, that still makes carbon dioxide extremely harmful, but methane is nothing to disconsider. Sadly, it is estimated that about a quarter of the man-made global warming, we’re currently experiencing is caused by methane emissions in the entire world, not only in these 11 worst countries for air pollution.

Needless to say, this isn’t a joking matter. Regardless of whether you believe in global warming or not, this is science we’re talking about, and the effects are already visible in the world.

Compared to carbon dioxide, methane doesn’t stay in the atmosphere as long, which is why the negative effects are calculated on a shorter timeframe; in this case, 20 years. In these two decades, methane is a lot more harmful than carbon dioxide, which is why the emissions need to be lessened here too if we want to live on this planet for a longer period of time.

The Center for American Progress recently released a report regarding the biggest polluters of methane, revealing that eleven companies emitted half of all methane pollution in the United States. How? Well, the answer is pretty simple – onshore oil and gas production. The numbers in the report regarding 2014.

The total methane emissions from the onshore oil and gas production were the equivalent of 48 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2014. For reference’s sake, the Center for American Progress compares this to “14 coal-fired power plants powered for one year”.

The report takes into consideration data from the EPA regarding the collected methane emissions of 211 companies in the sector. You’d expect that the biggest polluters are also the biggest producers of natural gas, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, indicating this isn’t an issue of how much they’re drilling, but rather the technologies they use.

Therefore, some control needs to be taken over how these companies pollute the world, especially since the United States and the rest of the world agreed to start cutting emissions over the next few decades in order to lower pollution rates. More needs to be done if this is to be accomplished, starting with new laws, new rules and new standards set down for how drilling needs to be done.

The target set by the EPA is to cut the methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40 percent to 45 percent by 2025. If this is to be accomplished, measures need to be taken and enforced as soon as possible.

So who are the top 5 methane polluters? They’re big names that make big bucks out of drilling. Without further ado, here is the list. The methane emissions are expressed in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

5. BP America

Methane emissions = 2,309,971 metric tons of CO2

Founded over a hundred years ago as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP plc (ADR) (NYSE:BP), the last one on our list of top 5 methane polluters, has grown into one of the seven largest oil and gas companies in the world. Although its headquarters are in London, there are several divisions around the world, the largest being the one in the United States.

The company has been involved in numerous scandals over the years, including several that blamed it for various disasters, including the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which is the largest accidental release of oil into marine waters in history.

The amount of emissions it generates is equal to burning 12,302 railcars of coal, which is a huge number and yet, somehow, less than half than what our number one polluter generates. If you were wondering how British Petroleum does financially, well, you should know that in 2015 it generated revenues of $225.98 billion, although its profits were over $6 billion in the negative in the same financial year.

4. EOG Resources Inc (NYSE:EOG)

Methane emissions = 2,668,380 metric tons of CO2

Responsible for putting methane emissions into the air equivalent to some 2.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, EOG Resources Inc (NYSE:EOG), which ranks 4th on our list of top 5 methane polluters, is a company with headquarters in Houston, Texas. Founded not even 20 years ago, EOG Resources has grown into a Fortune 500 company, ranking 167^th.

Its 2015 revenues reached 8.757 billion, although the net income was calculated at -$4.5 billion. Either way, the company has assets valued at over $26 billion.

Although ranked fourth on this list, EOG Resources was the 14^th largest natural gas producer in 2014. In case you were wondering just how much those methane emissions mean, you should know that they’re equivalent to burning 14,210 railcars of coal.

3. Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK)

Methane emissions = 2,767,333 metric tons of CO2

Founded in 1989, Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK), the next one on our list of top 5 methane polluters explores both oil and natural gas reserves. Its headquarters are in Oklahoma City and it is divided into two operating segments, the Southern Division and the Northern Division, which is a bit of a cliché given US history. The production is divided as 58 percent in the Southern Division and 42 percent in the Northern Division.

The company reported a revenue of $12.764 billion in 2015 and a net income of $14.635 billion. It has been involved in several scandals in recent years, including antitrust allegations following an investigation by the DoJ regarding Canadian gas company Encana who was being accused of illegally colluding with Chesapeake Energy to lower land exploration prices.

The amount of methane put into the atmosphere by this company is the rough equivalent of burning 14,737 railcars of coal.

2. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM)

Methane emissions = 3,491,197 metric tons of CO2

Perhaps one of the best-known names at a global level, Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), which ranks second on our list of top 5 methane polluters, is a multinational oil and gas corporation that has its headquarters in Texas. Formed back in 1999, descending from Standard Oil Company, Exxon is the 8^th largest company in the world when it comes to revenue. It ranked 6^th on the Forbes 2000 list in 2014 and managed to be the second most profitable company in the same year.

Financially speaking, Exxon had a $268.88 billion revenue in 2014 and a net income of nearly $22 billion. Since we mentioned global warming higher up, it should be mentioned that Exxon puts quite a bit of money into lobbying for climate change denial, refusing to admit that global warming is caused, in part, by the burning of fossil fuels, which would, of course, impact the business.

Either way, Exxon’s methane emissions equaled 3.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and the burning of 18,592 railcars of coal.

1. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Methane emissions = 4,653,752 metric tons of CO2

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is yet another multinational energy corporation with headquarters in Texas, United States. The company ranks first on our list of top 5 methane polluters and it is the largest pure-play exploration and production company in the world. This means that is focused on its activities rather than various other interests.

Founded back in 1875 as the Continental Oil and Transporation Co. in Utah, the company originally dealt in distributing coal, candles, grease, oil, and kerosene. Over the years, it suffered multiple changes and gone through merges until it became ConocoPhillips Corp in 2002.

The company reported revenues of $55.5 billion in 2014, just so you can get a better idea of the size of the company and the money it makes.

Unlike other companies in the business, ConocoPhillips was the first American oil company to join the U.S. Climate Action Partnership back in 2007. If you’re unfamiliar with it, the partnership is an alliance of big businesses and environmental groups that militate toward mandatory emission caps to reduce the levels of various greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

Despite this initial intention of joining the “save the planet” group, ConocoPhillips left the group in 2010 and was ranked among the highest corporate air polluter in the United States. As this report shows, it is also the top methane polluter with emissions equaling 4.65 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. This, in turn, is equal to the emissions that would result in burning 24,783 railcars of coal.

ConocoPhillips has been at the top of this list since at least 2011 and ranked 10^th for most methane emissions per well. Even so, with the numbers displayed for 2014, it should be mentioned that things are getting better and that the methane emissions from onshore oil and gas production have been reduced by 40 percent between 2013 and 2014 thanks to some investments made in this direction.

This shows, however, that it is possible, following some investments, to considerably reduce the amount of methane released into the atmosphere. This is possible not only in new wells, but also in those that are already in use, meaning there’s no excuse for other companies to not implement similar technologies in their own exploitations.

This is, of course, a sad state of affairs and it’s clearly a situation that needs to be dealt with through laws and regulations, something the government needs to cover before things start getting worse than they already are. In short, however, these were the top 5 methane polluters.