Saturday, May 31, 2025
British Columbia is the first jurisdiction in Canada to have met its 2025 oil and gas methane emissions reduction target, doing so two years ahead of schedule, according to new analysis from the Pembina Institute.
Notably, B.C. has achieved this while also growing oil and natural gas production, highlighting the fact that stringent methane regulations do not undermine the industry’s ability to operate. In fact, given the rising global trend of governments placing a premium on low-emissions energy imports, B.C.’s methane regulations are likely to boost the attractiveness of its oil and gas exports, bolstering the industry’s economic competitiveness in the years ahead.
The finding comes from a new report, Raising the Bar: How targets and measurement are crucial to leadership on oil and gas methane, which examines international best practices on methane measurement and target setting, as well as progress to date by Canadian governments that have methane regulations in place.
The report argues that leading jurisdictions do not simply set targets and meet them, but assess their progress against best available measurement data – such as by integrating bottom-up industry emissions reporting with aerial measurements (data from sensors attached to airplanes). This means, where necessary, governments must revise up their inventories – including estimates for historical baseline years – and then reassess what level of action is needed.
Change in B.C.’s annual gas production versus methane emissions (from 2014 levels). Data sources: Canada Energy Regulator and Canada’s Official Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
In short, to credibly meet their targets, governments must commit to continuous improvement and transparency.
In this regard, B.C. again stands apart, as it has already begun to incorporate aerial measurement data into its emissions modelling and regulatory development. By comparison, though Alberta previously announced that it achieved its 2025 reduction target as of 2022, the federal National Inventory Report (which incorporates aerial measurement data) suggests it has not. This shows the importance of ensuring successes are backed by credible, transparent measurement data.
Meanwhile, though it appears Saskatchewan has also already achieved its expected 2025 reduction , this coincided with a decline in oil and gas production in the province . A separate study has also shown that methane intensity – i.e. amount of methane emitted per unit of oil and gas produced – is extraordinarily high in Saskatchewan, suggesting the province still has work to do to improve operational efficiency, and underscoring that this decrease in methane emissions is likely not attributable solely to regulation.
Progress of Canadian jurisdictions toward methane emissions targets (relative). Data source: Government of Canada.
“B.C.’s success offers yet more evidence that methane emissions can be tackled without impeding the oil and gas industry’s operations,” said Amanda Bryant, Senior Analyst, Pembina Institute. “If anything, given the number of countries now considering new import standards that will privilege low-emissions energy products, stringent methane regulations – backed by transparent, best-in-class measurement data – are going to be key in bolstering the global competitiveness of our oil and gas sector.”
Between 2014 (B.C.’s baseline year on which regulations are based) and 2023 (latest available data), B.C.’s natural gas production grew by 67 per cent, while methane emissions associated with oil and gas production fell by 51 per cent.
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Featured image credit: Flickr
