GHG emissions management is an expected core competency for our business units (BUs) managing oil and gas production. Those BUs are required to review their GHG emissions profile and identify opportunities to make design and operating improvements that can reduce emissions. Potential GHG emissions reduction projects are reviewed within our annual budget planning process and assessed against pre-determined selection criteria, including cost per tonne of CO2e abated. We call this annual exercise our marginal abatement cost curve (MACC) process, described in more detail within this section of the report. 

All data presented herein is from January 1 to December 31, 2022. Footnotes to our performance metrics outline the scope and methodologies of our data reporting. The minimum boundary for reporting on environmental priorities is the assets we operate. Current and updated targets and ambitions are outlined in near-, medium- and long-term timeframes, followed by examples of emissions reduction projects in our business units. 

Goals for Net Zero graph

These targets inform internal emissions reduction goals at the business unit level and support innovation on efficiency, emissions reduction, GHG regulatory risk mitigation and climate-related risk management throughout the life cycle of our assets. Our progress to date has not included the use of voluntary offsets.

Near-Term Emissions Reductions (By 2025)

Our near-term targets have a priority focus on flaring and methane emissions.   

Our 2025 targets are as follows: 

  • ACHIEVED IN 2021: Meet a 10% methane emissions intensity reduction target by 2025 from a 2019 baseline.  
  • Achieve a target of zero routine flaring by 2025, five years sooner than the World Bank Initiative’s goal of 2030.

Methane  

Total Methane Emissions bar chart

Our methane emissions reductions come from voluntary reduction activities and from portfolio changes. Our absolute methane emissions decreased in 2022 due to the disposition of our Indonesian and non-core Lower 48 assets, reduced flare volumes, improved detection of fugitive emissions and data quality improvements. 

In 2022, methane emissions totaled 1.7 million tonnes of CO2e and constituted approximately 11% of our total GHG emissions. 

Methane Emissions Intensity Target bar chart

By year-end 2021, we achieved a 13% reduction of intensity from 2019, surpassing our 2025 target four years early with an intensity of 2.6 kg CO2e/BOE. As of year-end 2022, we have achieved an approximate 70% methane emissions intensity reduction from 2015 with an intensity of 2.5 kg CO2e/BOE.1  

Reducing methane emissions, even the small equipment leaks known as fugitive emissions, is a key part of our operations. Leak detection and repair (LDAR) is a work practice used to identify and repair leaking components, including valves, compressors, pumps, tanks and connectors, in order to reduce GHG emissions and increase efficiency. We fix leaks as soon as feasible, with many leaks repaired either the same day or within a few days of being detected. We have been voluntarily conducting pilots of new technologies at numerous facilities to determine effectiveness and scalability of next-generation detection technologies. This has included a wide range of ground-based and aerial technologies, each providing different strengths for different monitoring applications. The main objective with these technology pilots is to expeditiously identify, investigate and repair leaks associated with malfunctions and abnormal operating conditions, resulting in faster emissions mitigation. We continue to work with technology providers to develop and test technologies, and we expect improvements over time.

Flaring

Total Flaring Volume bar chartFlaring is a regulated process for the controlled release and burning of natural gas during oil and gas exploration, production and processing operations. Flaring is required to safely dispose of flammable gas released during process upsets or other unplanned events and to safely relieve pressure before performing equipment maintenance. Flaring is also used to control and reduce emissions of volatile organic compounds from oil and condensate storage tanks, and to manage emissions at well sites that lack sufficient pipeline infrastructure to capture gas for sale. 

ConocoPhillips is committed to the World Bank Zero Routine Flaring by 2030 Initiative, a program that aims to create consistency among governments, the oil and gas sector and development institutions to address flaring.2 In 2022, based on our flaring reductions to date, we committed to achieving zero routine flaring by 2025, five years in advance of the World Bank goal, and we continue to make strong progress. In 2022, routine flaring decreased nearly 90% compared to 2021 through active well management to shut in wells during capacity constraint events. Other projects focus on treatment of sour gas, flare capture and de-bottlenecking. Achieving this target is a key near-term action to achieving our World Bank goal as well as our net-zero operational emissions ambition.  

While flaring emissions make up only about 10% of our total Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions, the target will drive continued near-term focus on routine flaring reductions across our assets.  

In 2022, the total volume of flared gas was 17.9 BCF, a decrease of 13% from 2021. The decrease was a result of decreased flaring in Eagle Ford, Norway and Alaska as well as the disposition of our Indonesia asset. In Eagle Ford, decreased flaring was attributable to flare decommissioning, better accounting of flare outage periods, and use of wellsite fuel meters. In addition to reduced flare volumes, flaring intensity also decreased 12%.  

Having made significant progress in addressing routine flaring, our future focus will shift to non-routine and safety flaring. These sources of flaring present economic challenges due to the dispersed nature of the assets. We will continue to review viable options to reduce these sources. 

Medium-Term Emissions Reductions (By 2030)

Methane

We are one of more than 100 companies participating in The Environmental Partnership.

In July 2022, ConocoPhillips joined the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 Initiative, a voluntary, public-private partnership between the United Nations Environment Programme, the European Commission, the Environmental Defense Fund and over 80 oil and gas companies. OGMP 2.0 has emerged as a global standard for methane emissions measurement and reporting and is aimed at minimizing methane emissions from global oil and gas operations. Our membership demonstrates our commitment to deliver on our methane reduction targets through active collaboration to accelerate industry best practices in our operations.  

As part of OGMP 2.0, we plan to report methane emissions for all material sources from both operated and non-operated assets according to our reporting boundaries. In line with the Initiative’s guidance, we plan to incorporate source-level and site-level measurements when estimating methane emissions from our operations. In conjunction with these commitments and in response to achieving our near-term methane target four years early, we have set a new medium-term target to achieve a near-zero methane emissions intensity by 2030. This near-zero target is defined as 1.5kg CO2e/BOE or approximately 0.15% of natural gas produced. The target includes emissions that are related to production and excludes emissions from our aviation and polar tankers fleets. 

We are one of more than 100 companies participating in The Environmental Partnership, a coalition of natural gas and oil companies focused on accelerating environmental performance improvements from operations across the United States. The partnership prioritizes managing methane emissions and aligns with our focus on emissions reductions and high environmental standards.

GHG Emissions

In April 2023, we strengthened our target to 50-60% reduction by 2030 from a 2016 baseline. The target covers Scope 1 and Scope 2 gross operated and net equity emissions. Our Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions and emissions intensity calculations directly measure our performance and help us understand climate-related risk. Lower intensity assets are more resilient to policy, legal, technology and market risk.  

The company has already progressed toward meeting this target over the past several years. Between 2016 and 2022, we achieved a 41% intensity reduction on a target-related, gross operated basis through a combination of specific emissions reduction projects and portfolio changes. Continued capital allocation actions are expected to have a combined impact of lowering GHG emissions intensity by roughly 9-19% as we increase production from assets with low intensity, such as those in the Permian Basin, and achieve reductions from near-term projects. Our progress to date has not included the use of voluntary offsets.

The target includes emissions that are related to production and excludes emissions from our aviation and polar tankers fleets. This may give rise to small differences between the intensity we report for our GHG target purposes and the intensity we report for our annual metrics. Over the past five years, this difference has been less than 2%, or 1 kg CO2e/BOE.   

In 2022, our total gross operated GHG emissions were approximately 16.0 million tonnes, a 14% reduction compared to 2021. The disposition of our Indonesia asset and some smaller Permian dispositions contributed to a decrease in absolute emissions in 2022. In addition, we implemented various emission reduction measures across our assets during 2022, including reductions in flaring and installation of drill site fuel meters. 

Intensity Reduction Target bar charts

GHG emissions intensity target progress

GHG emissions change graphic

Net Equity and Non-Operated Emissions

Net Equity based GHG Emissions pieIn addition to progress against our operational GHG emissions intensity target, we are also working toward reducing our net equity GHG emissions intensity. Our target-related net equity emissions were about the same in 2022 compared to 2021, at 18.1 million tonnes CO2e. This corresponds to a lower target-related net equity intensity of 28.5 kg CO2e/BOE compared to 2021. About 55% of our net-equity emissions are from non-operated assets. Because we approach net-zero as a shared challenge, we look to influence our joint operating partners’ climate risk strategies and GHG targets and align our emissions reduction activity. We engage with our major operating partners to align on approaches to managing climate-related risk. This includes discussions with QatarEnergy and its operating company Qatargas for our LNG partnership in Qatar as well as Origin Energy for our APLNG business. 

1. While 2019 is the formal baseline for our methane emissions intensity target, we also compare performance to 2015 to show longer-term progress. 2015 is an important milestone year for international organizations like the UN-led Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 that aim to achieve a 45% methane emissions reduction by 2025 from 2015 levels.
2. Routine flaring is defined as flaring of associated gas that occurs during the normal production of oil in the absence of sufficient facilities to utilize the gas onsite, dispatch it to a market or re-inject it. Flaring for safety reasons, non-routine flaring or flaring gas other than associated gas is not included as part of the World Bank Zero Routine Flaring Initiative.
3. New projects with a negative breakeven cost of carbon may continue to be brought forward for consideration each year as we advance our technology and identify possible new angles for emissions reductions.