Nine African and Latin American oil producers, including Ghana, can slash methane emissions using existing technology, but policy and financing gaps remain the main barrier, a new report finds.
Commissioned by Clean Air Task Force (CATF) and produced by Carbon Limits, the study assessed Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana, Libya, Mexico, and Nigeria across four mitigation options: leak detection and repair (LDAR) programs, vapor recovery units (VRUs), improved flaring practices, and replacing gas-driven pneumatic equipment.
On scale and cost, the findings are striking. LDAR programs alone could cut fugitive emissions across the nine countries by more than 1,100 kilotonnes a year at an average cost of $36 per tonne of methane reduced. In several countries, running quarterly LDAR checks would generate net cost savings once the value of recovered gas is counted.
Costs vary sharply by location. Countries with weaker gas collection infrastructure or limited access to imported equipment pay far more to achieve the same reductions. That dynamic explains why aggregate global estimates, including the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) finding that roughly 70% of fossil fuel methane is reducible with current technology, can mask the true cost of action in specific places. The report notes that infrastructure deficits and constrained capital access can make the same measure dramatically more expensive depending on where it is deployed.
Stable and predictable regulation emerges as one of the most powerful tools governments hold. Consistent performance standards reduce investment uncertainty, give local supply chains long-term visibility, and lower the risk perceptions that push up financing costs across all four mitigation measures.
Ghana, which produces oil and gas from offshore fields including the Jubilee discovery, has set emission reduction targets under its national climate plans. Dedicated methane regulation for the oil and gas sector is still developing, a gap the report’s country-level framework is intended to help close.
Carbon Limits director Manon Simon said the analysis shows “significant emissions reductions can often be achieved at relatively low cost.”
