Towards a Sustainable Hydrocarbon Sector in Mexico: Innovation in Emissions Measurement and Climate Leadership.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46380/rias.v9.e527Keywords:
emissions measurement, flaring, greenhouse gas emissions, methane, natural gas venting, oil industryAbstract
The objective of this study was to analyze the evolution of greenhouse gas emissions in Mexico’s hydrocarbon exploration, production, and transportation sector, with emphasis on carbon dioxide and methane generated by venting and flaring. A systematic review of scientific literature, official reports, and operational data from 2000 to 2024 was conducted, using validated methodologies and specialized statistical analysis. Only structured companies dedicated to exploration and production were included, excluding SPVs and refining activities. Results showed that, despite the reduction in oil production, both the volume and intensity of gas flaring increased, with methane emissions underestimated in national inventories. A gap was identified between the regulatory framework and its implementation, limiting the effectiveness of mitigation policies. Main limitations included the underestimation of emissions in inventories and the lack of independent verification. It was concluded that strengthening the measurement, reporting, and verification of emissions, adopting advanced technologies, and improving regulatory enforcement are necessary to advance towards the sector’s sustainability. The findings may be applied to the design of public policies and mitigation strategies.
Downloads
References
Agencia Nacional de Seguridad Industrial y de Protección al Medio Ambiente del Sector Hidrocarburos. (2018). Disposiciones Administrativas de carácter general que establecen los Lineamientos para la prevención y el control integral de las emisiones de metano del Sector Hidrocarburos. Secretaría de Gobernación. Diario Oficial de la Federación. https://acortar.link/qFTGJ8
Candell, P., Poulter, B., Saunois, M., Krummel, P., Stavert, A. y Jackson, R. (2020). Emissions of methane – a greenhouse gas far more potent than carbon dioxide – are rising dangerously. The Conversation. https://doi.org/10.64628/AA.a79q9xvv7 DOI: https://doi.org/10.64628/AA.a79q9xvv7
Centro Mexicano de Derecho Ambiental. (2023). Organizaciones de la sociedad civil lanzan el Observatorio Mexicano de Emisiones de Metano (OBMEM). https://acortar.link/mphmpw
Environmental Defense Fund. (2022). PermianMAP final report: A look back at key findings and takeaways from the Permian Methane Analysis Project. https://acortar.link/N1Gnsq
Global Reporting Initiative. (2023). Sector Standard for Oil and Gas (GRI 11). https://acortar.link/0dXgxe
Gobierno de México. (2026). Registro Nacional de Emisiones RENE. Informe de Gobierno. https://acortar.link/80YxyL
Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático. (2018). Inventario Nacional de Emisiones de Gases y Compuestos de Efecto Invernadero. https://acortar.link/McLvB2
Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático. (2021). Inventario Nacional de Emisiones de Gases y Compuestos México ante el cambio climático. https://acortar.link/5P90EI
Instituto Nacional de Ecología y Cambio Climático. (2024). Inventario Nacional de Emisiones de Gases y Compuestos de Efecto Invernadero 2021. https://acortar.link/eAsWtK
International Energy Agency. (2021). Global Energy Review 2021. https://n9.cl/gl3tsl
International Energy Agency. (2022). Global Methane Tracker 2022. https://acortar.link/mQhmdR
International Energy Agency. (2023a). Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Energy Data Explorer. https://acortar.link/vhOSPk
International Energy Agency. (2023b). México. Total CO2 emissions from energy. https://acortar.link/PM2CGj
International Energy Agency. (2023c). Mexico. Understanding energy end uses. https://acortar.link/51zhWd
International Energy Agency. (2023d). World Energy Outlook 2023. Executive summary. https://acortar.link/5tCveg
International Energy Agency. (2023e). CO2 Emissions in 2022. https://n9.cl/d3m6ma
International Energy Agency. (2023f). Emissions Factors 2023. https://acortar.link/13UFHV
International Energy Agency. (2024a). Mexico. Energy system of Mexico. https://acortar.link/ehgLdu
International Energy Agency. (2024b). World Energy Outlook 2024. https://n9.cl/5ngi6
International Energy Agency. (2025a). Global Energy Review 2025. https://n9.cl/5ty1k8
International Energy Agency. (2025b). Global Methane Tracker 2025. https://n9.cl/3f87x5
International Renewable Energy Agency. (2020). The Post-COVID recovery: An agenda for resilience, development and equality. https://acortar.link/WjhP06
LeBlanc, R. (2025). How observation data is upending our understanding of methane emissions. S&P Global Energy. https://acortar.link/E4sW1p
Lu, X., Jacob, D. J., Wang, H., Maasakkers, J. D., Zhang, Y., Scarpelli, T. R., Shen, L., Qu, Z., Sulprizio, M. P., Nesser, H., Bloom, A. A., Ma, S., Worden, J. R., Fan, S., Parker, R. J., Boesch, H., Gautam, R., Gordon, D., Moran, M. D., … Andrews, A. (2022). Methane emissions in the United States, Canada, and Mexico: Evaluation of national methane emission inventories and 2010–2017 sectoral trends by inverse analysis of in situ (GLOBALVIEWplus CH4 ObsPack) and satellite (GOSAT) atmospheric observations. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 22(1), 395–418. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-395-2022 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-395-2022
Methane Guiding Principles Partnership. (2019). Methane Guiding Principles: Best Practice Guide. https://acortar.link/juXZTP
National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2022). ‘Superemisores’ de metano detectados por la nueva misión EMIT. https://acortar.link/yV4a6U
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2022). Increase in atmospheric methane set another record during 2021. https://acortar.link/lCPEga
Observatorio Mexicano de Emisiones de Metano. (2022). # Metano amenaza invisible. https://www.obmem.mx/emisiones
Olczak, M., Piebalgs, A. y Balcombe, P. (2023). A global review of methane policies reveals that only 13% of emissions are covered with unclear effectiveness. One Earth, 6(5), 519–535. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.04.009 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2023.04.009
Pitman, R. y Ballesteros, F. (2024). Closing implementation gaps: Recommendations for Pemex to meet its emission reduction goals. Natural Resource Governance Institute. https://acortar.link/43wouW
Saunois, M., Stavert, A. R., Poulter, B., Bousquet, P., Canadell, J. G., Jackson, R. B., Raymond, P. A., Dlugokencky, E. J., Houweling, S., Patra, P. K., Ciais, P., Arora, V. K., Bastviken, D., Bergamaschi, P., Blake, D. R., Brailsford, G., Bruhwiler, L., Carlson, K. M., Carrol, M., … Zhuang, Q. (2020). The Global Methane Budget 2000–2017. Earth System Science Data, 12(3), 1561–1623. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1561-2020 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-1561-2020
Shen, L., Jacob, D. J., Gautam, R., Omara, M., Scarpelli, T. R., Lorente, A., Zavala-Araiza, D., Lu, X., Chen, Z., & Lin, J. (2023). National quantifications of methane emissions from fuel exploitation using high resolution inversions of satellite observations. Nature Communications, 14, e4948. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40671-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40671-6
Signos Vitales. (2022). Cambio climático y Acuerdos internacionales. https://acortar.link/w7IENw
Task Force on Climate‑related Financial Disclosures. (2017). Recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. Financial Stability Board. https://acortar.link/kyDrvI
Task Force on Climate‑related Financial Disclosures. (2023). 2023 Status Report. Financial Stability Board. https://acortar.link/vJnYyD
Thornbush, M. y Govind, A. (2025). Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) Protocols Used in Carbon Trading Applied to Dryland Nations in the Global South for Climate Change Mitigation. Sustainability, 17(24), e11001. https://doi.org/10.3390/su172411001 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su172411001
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2025a). Overview of Greenhouse Gases. https://acortar.link/ADLU3G
United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2025b). GHGRP and the Oil and Gas Industry. https://acortar.link/v27JBW
Volcovici, V. (2024). Drillers emit far more methane than US estimates, aerial survey shows. Reuters. https://acortar.link/4y63Vx
World Bank Group. (2023). Global Gas Flaring Database. https://acortar.link/z3fjfK
World Bank Group. (2024). Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report. https://acortar.link/weYfM9
World Bank Group. (2025). Mexico. Policy and Targets. https://acortar.link/lUlXIb
World Bank Group. (s/f). Global Methane and Flaring Regulations. Recuperado el 4 de junio de 2025, de https://flaringventingregulations.worldbank.org
World Resources Institute. (2004). The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (Revised Edition). Green House Gas Protocol/World Business Council for Sustainable Development. https://acortar.link/Z4mMK4
World Resources Institute. (2011). Corporate Value Chain (Scope 3) Standard. Green House Gas Protocol/World Business Council for Sustainable Development. https://acortar.link/1QMktj
World Resources Institute. (2014). Estándar de política y acción. Green House Gas Protocol/World Business Council for Sustainable Development. https://acortar.link/mXY6Hy
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Sara Sandin Orea
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
© This license allows users to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, provided that attribution is granted to the creator.
