Methane is at least 80 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that 32% of methane emissions from human activities comes from natural gas and petroleum systems.1 According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), cutting methane is the strongest lever to slow climate change over the next 25 years. The EPA methodology used to calculate methane emissions underestimates leakage rates and fails to capture many major leaks, which contribute to climate change and waste valuable product. Studies have found actual emissions to be 50 to 100% higher than reported emissions.3 In certain basins, emissions are more than 10 times industry-disclosed figures.2 Therefore, oil and gas industry scope 1 emissions may be significantly higher than currently reported. Methane emissions estimates improve when direct measurement methodologies are used and when emissions are identified by source type and at a site or facility level as shown by the Oil and Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP)4 , a multi-stakeholder initiative launched by UNEP committed to improving methane data quality and consistency.
The United States joined the Global Methane Pledge in 2021, committing to use best available inventory methodologies to quantify methane emissions. The same year, investors managing more than $6 trillion supported strong federal methane regulations. Companies responsible for approximately 30% of global natural gas production, including bp, Cheniere, ConocoPhillips and Occidental have joined the OGMP. 5 Companies that do not adequately manage methane emissions risk their reputation and license to operate.

Marathon Petroleum Corporation (“Marathon” or “Company”), through its limited partnership MPLX, operates large natural gas gathering and processing networks. MPLX has set targets to reduce its methane emissions, including by employing advanced monitoring technologies, and by quantifying, monitoring, reporting and verifying greenhouse gas emissions at facilities that are part of Cheniere’s supply chain.6 However, Marathon has not taken the critical steps to reduce investor concerns by using direct methane measurement across all operations and reporting on it.