Romania is one of the few European Union (EU) member states with significant and active oil and natural gas production sites, and last May emissions were detected at 14 sites across the chain – from production to storage – out of 20 analysed. This is stated in the report of the environmental non-governmental organization Clean Air Task Force, which is cited by 2Celsius.

The given data shows that in 2017, 13,000 active wells were evaluated in 400 oil fields in Romania.

In 2021, 2Celsius and the Clean Air Task Force (CATF) identified serious problems in Romania’s oil and gas infrastructure after monitoring 50 facilities in southern Romania. A year later, in May, CATF returned to Romania and identified emissions at 14 sites along the entire chain (from production to storage) out of 20 visited. For example, in Boldest, in addition to venting and burning, gases were seen coming out of the ground, most likely from a ruptured pipe.

“Almost everywhere we go, we find methane. Up and down the chain and in all geographical areas, there is dangerous methane pollution coming out of Europe’s oil and gas network,” said Théophile Humann-Guilleminault, one of CATF’s certified monitoring thermographers. uncontrolled methane emissions.

According to the specialist’s report, the observed emissions are mainly from storage tanks, emergency exhaust stacks, unlit flares and pipes. At the same time, well failures were observed in nine oil and gas producing countries (Austria, France, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Germany and Great Britain), the worst situation in Romania.

“Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change, and reducing its emissions is essential to achieving the EU’s climate goals. With the invasion of Ukraine and Europe’s need to diversify its oil and natural gas supplies, methane has also emerged as As the RePowerEU announcement showed, reducing methane leaks worldwide could help offset short-term energy shortages in Europe while reducing global emissions. The version approved by the relevant parliamentary committees on April 26. These included requirements for companies to monitor, report and verify (MRV), detect and address methane leaks, and limit emissions and flaring (LVF) along the supply chain to mining. , performance standards have been introduced for the sector and a reduction target for overall emissions to be set by 2026. Also included are world firsts: a methane productivity standard of 0.2% or less and the extension of methane measures to oil and gas imported into the EU,” the document says.

Currently, the gas import market in the EU accounts for more than 51% of global production.

“Methane pollution in the energy sector is not only a climate problem, but also a huge waste of energy that could be used to solve the current energy crisis in Europe. In the RePowerEU strategy, the Commission announced a program called “you collect, we buy”. “, which could be used to reduce the 210 billion cubic meters of gas wasted worldwide through flaring, venting and fugitive emissions. Methane is 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over 20 years and is responsible for the 0.5°C of warming experienced Earth Today Because of its power and short life compared to carbon dioxide, reducing methane pollution is the fastest way to slow the pace of global warming,” say experts in the field.

The report, compiled by the Clean Air Task Force, monitored more than 430 oil and gas facilities from 15 European countries, including Romania, with 881 emission sources documented between February 2021 and 2023.

CATF is a global nonprofit environmental organization that brings together scientists, engineers, policy experts, lawyers and communications professionals working to protect against the worst effects of climate change, catalyzing the rapid global development and deployment of new energy sources and proven low-carbon and other climate protection technologies to achieve global zero-emissions goals by 2050.

In 2012, he was one of the initiators of the Coalition for Climate and Clean Air, the only international cooperation aimed at reducing short-lived climate pollutants.