According to experts, in 2023 Turkmenistan managed to reduce methane emissions by 10% compared to 2020, according to data from Kayrros. However, a recent report published on November 5 shows that in 2024, methane emissions not only did not decrease but increased by 19%. The main culprits for the rise are oil companies, although gas stations also reported an increase in emissions, as reported by turkmen.news.
Analysts cannot definitively explain why emissions decrease in one year and then rise again the next. It is possible that new technologies have not yet been implemented at all wells, or that measures to reduce emissions have been rolled back. Since Turkmenistan is among the countries with the highest emissions, their increase has a noticeable impact on the global environmental situation.
A list of the largest methane plumes compiled by the STOP Methane project at the Emmett Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles, was published on November 12. The data was collected by the non-profit organization Carbon Mapper using the Tanager-1 satellite from Planet Labs and the EMIT tool from NASA on the International Space Station. In total, 3,100 methane plumes were analyzed at 1,900 oil and gas sector sites worldwide.
In most cases, these sites are located in a limited number of countries, among which Turkmenistan holds a significant share. For example, in the "Top-25" anti-rating, Turkmenistan is represented in more than half of the cases.
The leading position belongs to one of the stations in the Esenguly etrap, where from February 4 to July 22, emissions of up to 10 tons of methane per hour were observed.
Esenguly is mentioned in the list nine more times. In 2014, an incident occurred in this etrap when part of an oil well sank underground due to a propane leak. In 2021, plans were reported for drilling new, deeper wells to increase production volumes.
Balканабад also appears six times in the anti-rating. As in Esenguly, leaks occur from various sources, indicating systemic problems. Kayrros links these leaks to outdated drainage methods and insufficient funding for maintenance and leak detection.
Both reports were released ahead of the UN climate conference COP-30, which took place from November 10 to 21 in Brazil. The conference reiterated that planned measures to reduce greenhouse gases and combat global warming are not being implemented. Participants were also reminded that the current temperature already leads to half a million deaths worldwide each year. It should be noted that extreme heat has been observed in Turkmenistan for several years.
