Crude oil: Emissions
Most of oil's carbon leaves through the tailpipe
Most of oil's carbon leaves through the tailpipe What this tab covers The greenhouse-gas footprint of the commodity at a global level, split by lifecycle phase: extraction (or farming), refining and processing, movement, usage, and recycling or end of life. Intensities are per unit of product; the global total combines intensity with world output. Also covers other environmental impacts and the main levers to cut emissions. Emission intensity 3.80 t CO2e per t range 3.5-4.5 · cradle-to-grave: upstream plus refining plus transport plus combustion of products; derived from the phase values below Global emissions per year 15k Mt CO2e per year 2023-2024 · about 12 Gt CO2 from oil combustion plus roughly half of the 5.1 Gt CO2e from oil and gas operationsPer t of crude oil produced, refined, shipped and burned (cradle-to-grave, global average). Intensity: IPCC 2006 Guidelines; Masnadi et al. 2018 (Science); Jing et al. 2020 (Nature Climate Change) (indicative). Global total: Global Carbon Budget 2024; IEA, Emissions from Oil and Gas Operations in Net Zero Transitions, 2023 (indicative).
Share of footprint by lifecycle phase
Extraction 12% Refining / processing 7% Movement 1% Usage 80%Footprint by lifecycle phase
| Phase | Intensity | Share | Main sources of emissions | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Extraction | about 0.45 t CO2e/t (global mean about 10 g CO2e/MJ, range under 3 to over 20) | 12% | flaring and venting of gas, methane leaks, fuel for pumps and compressors, steam for heavy oil | Saudi and Norwegian fields are among the lowest; Venezuelan, Canadian oil sands and heavily flaring fields the highest | Masnadi et al. 2018, Science (indicative) |
| Refining / processing | about 0.25 t CO2e/t of crude (range 0.15-0.5) | 7% | heat for distillation, hydrogen for hydrotreating, catalytic cracking | Heavier and sourer crudes need more energy to refine | Jing et al. 2020, Nature Climate Change (indicative) |
| Movement | about 0.03-0.05 t CO2e/t | 1% | tanker bunker fuel and pipeline pumps | A VLCC voyage from the Gulf to India is short; long-haul to China or around the Cape adds more | IMO Fourth GHG Study 2020 (indicative) |
| Usage | about 3.1 t CO2/t when burned (73.3 kg CO2 per GJ x 42.3 GJ/t) | 80% | combustion of petrol, diesel, jet fuel, fuel oil and LPG | About a tenth of oil becomes plastics, bitumen and lubricants, which store carbon for a while | IPCC 2006 Guidelines, default emission factor for crude oil |
| Recycling / end of life | not applicable for fuels | – | fuel is consumed when burned | Only used lubricants are re-refined; plastics made from naphtha emit later if incinerated | this tile's lessons (stocks table note) |
Other environmental impacts
Methane from oil and gas operations is a large short-term warming source; fossil fuel methane was about 120 Mt in 2024, roughly a third from oil (IEA Global Methane Tracker 2025, indicative). Oil spills, produced water and gas flaring (about 140 bcm a year, World Bank GGFR, indicative) also matter.
Levers to cut emissions
- End routine flaring and cut methane leaks: the IEA estimates about 40% of oil and gas methane could be avoided at no net cost (IEA Global Methane Tracker 2025, indicative)
- Electrify offshore platforms from shore, as at Norway's Johan Sverdrup, which reports about 0.7 kg CO2 per barrel (Equinor, indicative)
- Refinery efficiency, green hydrogen and carbon capture for hydrogen units
- Demand shift to electric vehicles: each electric car displaces about 1 t of fuel a year in high-use markets (indicative)
India
India imports about 87% of its crude, so most upstream emissions occur abroad, while refining and combustion occur at home. Burning about 5.5 mb/d of oil products implies roughly 0.7-0.8 Gt CO2 a year (derived: consumption x 3.1 t CO2/t, Energy Institute 2025, indicative).
Emission figures are indicative global averages from the life-cycle studies named; actual footprints vary widely by site, energy mix and method.