Global Methane Tracker 2026
International Energy Agency (IEA)04 May 2026cc-byRead the original
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The IEA's Global Methane Tracker 2026 estimates that methane emissions from fossil fuel operations total 124 million tonnes a year, with oil the largest source at 45 Mt, coal at 43 Mt and natural gas at 36 Mt, plus roughly 20 Mt from bioenergy. The agency finds no sign that emissions from fossil fuel operations are falling overall, though it notes fewer super-emitting incidents in Algeria and Argentina and slower growth in Chinese coal mine emissions. About 70 percent of fossil fuel methane, close to 85 Mt, could be abated with existing technology, and more than 35 Mt could be avoided at no net cost at average 2025 energy prices, because abatement costs fall below the market value of the captured gas. The 2026 edition adds a chapter on marketplaces for near-zero methane intensity fuels and a template for how operators should respond to satellite-detected large emission events.
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"Methane emissions from these activities total 124 million tonnes (Mt) a year: oil is the largest source at 45 Mt, followed by coal at 43 Mt, and natural gas at 36 Mt." "Around 70% of methane emissions from fossil fuels – nearly 85 Mt – can be abated with existing technology, including three-quarters of emissions from oil and gas and about half of coal emissions." "more than 35 Mt could be avoided at no net cost, based on average energy prices in 2025" "there is still no sign that methane emissions from fossil fuel operations are falling" "If every country were to implement these tried-and-tested policies, we estimate that global methane emissions from oil and gas operations would shrink by more than half." "Today, 159 countries plus the European Union participate, covering nearly three-quarters of global oil and gas production and around 65% of sectoral methane emissions."
International Energy Agency (IEA) · cc-by · Read the original
The MyGreenSuit briefing
Commentary by MyGreenSuit, not the words of International Energy Agency (IEA).
The IEA have now published some version of the same sentence for years: more than 35 million tonnes of methane could be captured at no net cost, because the gas is worth more than the equipment needed to stop it escaping.
And there is still no sign emissions are falling.
That combination is the thing to explain, and "companies are irrational" is not the explanation. The real answers are duller and more useful. The leaks are spread across enormous numbers of small sites; the capital sits with operators who often do not own the gas revenue; and almost nobody is measured on it. Free money that requires a hundred thousand site visits is not free.
Coal is the part that gets ignored. At 43 million tonnes it is nearly level with oil, and coal mine methane has almost no abatement industry, little satellite attention and no real pledge structure around it.
Note the methodology gap before comparing anything. The IEA blend satellite, measurement and inventory data, and their numbers do not reconcile with EPA's bottom-up inventory. Pick one and stay inside it.