JP Morgan Urges Oil And Gas Clients To Cut Methane Emissions

By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com

Reducing methane emissions and addressing methane leaks in operations are immediate actions from which both businesses and the climate will benefit, JP Morgan, one of the world’s top fossil fuel financiers, said in a new report on Wednesday.

JP Morgan’s “The Methane Emissions Opportunity” white paper urges companies to boost efforts to cut methane emissions and says that the Wall Street bank recognizes methane abatement as an opportunity “to support accelerated efforts by our clients to reduce operational emissions.”

“Consistent with that objective, we have set a net zero-aligned emissions intensity reduction target for the Oil & Gas sector’s operational (Scope 1 and 2) emissions in our financing portfolio, including reducing leakage, venting, and flaring of methane as key drivers,” JP Morgan said in the report.

“We recognize that different technologies and solutions will make sense for different types of operators, and we aim to work with industry participants to support the deployment of effective solutions.”

According to the bank, recent events such as the war in Ukraine have highlighted the urgent need to provide energy resources securely, reliably, and affordably while scaling solutions and strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

“These objectives are not mutually exclusive. The world can — and must — do both,” JP Morgan said.

A report by environmental groups from earlier this year showed that JP Morgan is no longer the world’s biggest financier of fossil fuels. Last year Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) became the top bank funding oil and gas. For the first time since 2019, US bank JP Morgan Chase dropped from the top spot of the biggest backer of fossil fuels.

Overall, U.S. banks dominated fossil fuel financing, accounting for 28% of all fossil fuel financing in 2022.

JPMorgan Chase remains the world’s biggest funder of fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement, while Citi, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America are still among the top 5 fossil financiers since 2016.