Russia’s war on Ukraine has sent painful shockwaves through global gas markets — not only in Europe but across Asia and in developing economies that can least afford it. The crisis is accelerating efforts to transition to cleaner, safer, more reliable energy, while setting off a scramble for new gas supplies to backfill what once came from Russia. How to meet that near-term need without a massive new infrastructure buildout that would undermine climate goals and risk stranding billions in capital? One key solution – identified by EDF, the International Energy Agency and others — lies in the vast amounts of gas currently wasted by the oil and gas industry through flaring, leaks and other emissions.
Energy Exchange
S&P Global Analysis Says Industry’s Wasted Gas Could Bring Quick Relief to Energy Market
Proposed Acquisition of New Jersey Utilities Must be Consistent with Climate Goals
Two New Jersey gas utilities owned by South Jersey Industries, SJI,— South Jersey Gas and Elizabethtown Gas — are petitioning the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, BPU, for approval to be acquired by JP Morgan-backed investment firm IIF. The companies’ proposal relies on a business model of continued expansion of the natural gas distribution system, and suggests that decarbonization can be achieved by blending hydrogen and biomethane into gas pipelines. But increasing gas use is not aligned with state climate policy, and the proposed blending options are not assured climate solutions. The BPU should impose conditions on the proposed transaction to ensure consistency with state climate goals. Additionally, all New Jersey policymakers must recognize the importance of avoiding wasteful investments in gas system expansion — in particular, legislation promoting gas utility spending on biomethane and hydrogen raises serious concerns.
How Japan and other energy importers can spur global methane action
Announced at COP 27, the joint declaration by key natural gas exporters, the United States, Norway and Canada, and importers, the European Union, Japan and Singapore, demonstrates the growing recognition that the supply and demand sides of energy markets must work together to reduce global methane emissions.
Methane, the main ingredient of natural gas, is a powerful climate pollutant, and the oil and gas industry is a main source of global emissions. As methane has shot up the international climate agenda, a great deal of attention has focused on countries that produce the lion’s share of the world’s oil and gas. But big energy importers like Japan, which often don’t have significant domestic fossil fuel resources, also have significant opportunities to stimulate and speed emission reductions industrywide.
A new analysis conducted for Environmental Defense Fund by independent global research firm Rystad Energy explores how Japan can leverage its unique market position to drive global methane reductions.
New maps unveil scale of U.S. orphan well challenge, highlight solutions at hand
Last year, for the first time, EDF and McGill University mapped every existing documented orphan well across our country. Shortly after, Congress passed the Infrastructure and Investment Act, IIJA, which included $4.7 billion to document, plug and remediate orphan wells. This new funding, secured through EDF’s leadership, provides federal support for the first time for states, Tribes, and federal land management agencies to find and plug orphan oil and gas wells that are inactive and unplugged with no solvent owner of record.
Prior to this legislation, states, which oversee 90% of the wells in the country, had a fraction of the funding needed to plug wells with the unfortunate result that they often sat unplugged for decades. Now, we’re publishing an updated orphan wells map that draws on newly available data to offer decision makers and the public a clearer picture of the issue.
Pennsylvania acts to avert a manufactured crisis to protect its economy, environment and $750 million in federal funds
By John Rutecki and John Walliser
On Nov. 21st, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced his administration would pursue a now-approved emergency rulemaking to finalize long-overdue volatile organic compound and methane rules for the conventional oil and gas industry.
What a catastrophic gas leak in Pennsylvania means for our climate and health

Image credit: Methane plume from the leak captured by the Sentinel-2 satellite on 9 November (data processed by UNEP/IMEO)
Update: According to the operator, this leak has been plugged.
By Adam Peltz and Jon Goldstein
A natural gas storage site in Western Pennsylvania has sprung a massive gas leak that’s impacting both the climate and the communities who live in Cambria County.
The leak began Thursday, Nov. 6 at a facility operated by Equitrans Midstream Corporation. Despite efforts from the company and state officials, it has continued for weeks – causing over 1 billion cubic feet of methane and other pollutants to fill the air. Its impact is massive – large enough to be seen and quantified from space from the growing network of methane satellites. The near-term warming generated from this single site over the course of a few weeks is roughly equivalent to emissions from 360,000 cars over a year.