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More than double the volume of gas cut off due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz is being wasted each year because countries are failing to deal with methane leaks and unnecessary flaring, the International Energy Agency said.
The IEA said about 20 per cent, or 110bn cubic metres, of global liquefied natural gas passed through the strait last year.
It calculated that 100 bcm of gas could be made available annually through a global effort to cut methane escaping from oil and gas operations, and a further 100 bcm unlocked by eliminating non-emergency flaring.
As many countries struggle to find new energy sources because of the Middle East, the IEA said the large quantities of produced gas elsewhere were not being put to “productive use”.
Methane is a highly potent but shortlived greenhouse gas — retaining 80 times the heat of carbon over a 20-year period — which escapes during production and distribution through leaks, flaring and venting.
It is responsible for an estimated 30 per cent of the world’s warming since the industrial revolution, and its capture is regarded by scientists as the most effective near-term measure for dealing with climate change.
“This is not only a climate issue: there are also major energy security benefits that can come from tackling methane and flaring, especially at a time when the world is urgently looking for additional supply amid the current crisis,” said IEA chief energy economist Tim Gould.
While it would take time to achieve at scale, the IEA said that “nearly 15 bcm could be made available in a sufficiently short period of time to provide some relief to gas markets” if countries with spare capacity and importing nations took some “abatement measures”.
This could include simply fixing leaks in pipelines, replacing faulty equipment and capturing, rather than flaring, gas.
The energy industry has come under pressure to cut methane emissions in recent years. But the IEA said on Monday that overall methane emissions in the energy sector remained near record levels in 2025.
The findings are due to be presented at an international high-level event on methane action convened by France’s G7 presidency in Paris on Monday.
It comes as the EU is under pressure from fossil fuel companies and the US to delay and weaken restrictions linked to monitoring and reporting of methane imports, which will come into force in January 2027.
Last week, the UN Environment Programme’s International Methane Emissions Observatory said 17 of the 50 biggest methane leaks uncovered by its network of satellites over the past six months were at oil and gas facilities.
Capturing methane from these 17 sites could supply around 1 bcm of natural gas — enough to heat about 750,000 average western homes for a year.
Some 22 of the biggest methane leaks found were at coal facilities, often from ventilation shafts — a source that the UN argues can often be mitigated at low cost.
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