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The Stop Methane Project at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) analysed global methane emissions from oil and gas infrastructure, identifying the world’s 25 largest methane plumes detected in 2025. 

Using open-access satellite data, the work highlights where the most severe emissions are and reveals significant opportunities for rapid climate mitigation

Issue

Methane is a highly potent greenhouse gas, and large, concentrated emissions of methane from oil and gas operations are a major contributor to global warming, responsible for approximately 30% of the rise of global temperatures.

Emissions often go under reported, due to inconsistent global reporting standards and detection is difficult with methane being odourless and colourless.

Identifying and reducing emissions can provide a critical opportunity to reduce climate change.

Approach

Analysts at the Stop Methane Project obtained open‑access satellite data from the non‑profit Carbon Mapper to identify the sites worldwide with the highest detected hourly emission rates between 1 January and 31 December 2025.

They identified the 25 largest emitters in the Oil & Gas category. For those sites selected, an automated process was used to pull the related emission details and location information from Carbon Mapper.

Carbon Mapper obtains this data by processing observations from Planet Labs’ Tanager‑1 satellite and NASA’s EMIT instrument on the International Space Station, analysing these measurements to detect, quantify, and map methane plumes.

Impact

Analysts identified the top 25 sites of methane mega leaks, with emission rates ranging from 3.7 to 10.5 tonnes (metric tons) of methane per hour worldwide, demonstrating the scale of unmonitored and ongoing methane releases.

Significantly large plumes identified are concentrated in a small number of countries, namely Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Iran, Pakistan and the United States.

The approach demonstrates the growing power of satellite based methane monitoring to identify repeat emitters, quantify emissions more consistently, and pinpoint locations that national regulators or operators can act on.

As coverage from methane monitoring satellites expands, future analysis can become more reliable, supporting faster intervention and improved accountability across the oil and gas sector.

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