- Optical gas imaging reveals methane pollution at about one-third of the oil and gas industry facilities examined
- DUH calls on operators to investigate emission sources and files complaints with authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony
- DUH calls on the federal and state governments to consistently implement the EU Methane Regulation and close regulatory loopholes
Berlin, Germany – Pollution consisting of methane and other hydrocarbons was detected at 13 of 44 oil and gas facilities investigated in Germany — in the states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate — and the Netherlands. The survey was conducted by Environmental Action Germany (DUH) and the U.S. NGO Earthworks using a highly specialized optical gas imaging camera developed for this purpose. The facilities include liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, gas storage facilities, compressor stations in the pipeline network, and oil refineries.
DUH has informed the operators of the facilities and the relevant authorities. The environmental organization is calling on industry and the federal states to finally enforce the EU Methane Regulation across the board, to push forward with its implementation, and to appoint the necessary competent authorities.
“The gas storage facilities are empty, and the companies responsible for the storage facilities and pipelines are simply allowing the gas to escape into the atmosphere as methane,” said Sascha Müller-Kraenner, Federal Executive Director, DUH. “This is absurd, and it is a scandal that authorities and policymakers are letting the methane problem slide despite the energy and climate crisis! The federal states have a duty to implement the Methane Regulation. The federal government must finally provide support here — by setting fines for violations, instead of holding back the implementing legislation and giving Economy Minister Reiche free rein in her repeated attacks on the EU law.”
In three cases, DUH believes there may be a violation of the EU Methane Regulation and has filed corresponding complaints with the State Office for Mining and Geology (LBEG) in Lower Saxony and with the North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of the Environment, Energy, and Economic Affairs.
The EU Methane Regulation, which took effect in 2024, requires companies that extract and transport oil, coal, and fossil gas in the European Union to quantify their methane emissions based on measurements for the first time, as well as to regularly inspect their infrastructure for emission sources and repair them as necessary. It replaces the industry’s previous system of self-regulation and has come under pressure in recent months due to repeated efforts by the Trump administration and Katerina Reiche.
Another volatile finding: Methane emissions were documented at all liquefied natural gas terminals surveyed in Germany — even when no tanker was docked. DUH is calling for consistent implementation of the regulation and the expansion of the rules to include facilities not yet covered, such as gas-fired power plants, biogas plants, and refineries.
“The goal of the Methane Regulation is to ensure there is necessary oversight and prevention of harmful pollution from covered oil and gas infrastructure,” said Andrew Klooster, Senior Thermographer, Earthworks. “At a minimum, the authorities have a responsibility to act on this evidence and determine whether operators are complying with the rules. Our evidence also demonstrates the need to bolster and expand existing rules, as the pollution we documented at refinery facilities was significant, likely preventable, and in some cases worse than observations of pollution from similar refinery facilities in the US and Latin America.”
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