FAQs

Founded by RMI and SYSTEMIQ in 2020, MiQ is the not-for-profit global leader in methane emissions certification. Our mission is to drive rapid reductions in methane emissions from the oil and gas sector through a credible and transparent certification system that incentivises improvements and ensures accountability. We are working with governments, regulators, climate leaders, and the oil and gas sector.

Certified gas is natural gas produced by companies whose operations are independently certified by third-party auditors. This clear, neutral assessment of natural gas provides operators with the information they need to drive down their emissions. MiQ is enabling the growth of a market for certified gas to accelerate the reduction of methane emissions from the oil and gas industry.

MiQ was originally launched as a partnership between RMI, formerly the Rocky Mountain Institute,  and global sustainability consultancy SYSTEMIQ. In late 2021 MiQ became ‘The MiQ Foundation’ and uses its not for profit status to drive the rapid reduction of methane emissions in the oil and gas sector. 

MiQ is funded by philanthropic organisations, such as RMI, which are motivated by reducing emissions from the oil and gas sector whilst we accelerate the transition to a clean energy future.

MiQ works with operators, or producers, in the oil and gas sector to help them undergo an independent assessment of their methane emissions performance, and leverage that data needed to inform future and ongoing reduction efforts. The operators MiQ currently works with include bp, ExxonMobil, Repsol, EQT, Chesapeake, and many more. 

All operators working with MiQ must engage an auditor to carry out an annual detailed, field-based, and rigorous assessment of natural gas production at facility level against the MiQ Standard, which they pay for.

Operators undergoing MiQ Certification can work with a wide range of innovative methane tech companies to achieve certification, ranging from detection to data solutions, analytics, and audit prep and implementation.

MiQ is actively in conversations with regulators around the world to help deliver a globally recognised standard for methane emissions. Learn more here.

Operators choose any independent auditor from the list of MiQ-accredited auditors. To obtain this recognition, those auditors are required to have proven expertise in methane emissions management, accounting, and monitoring in the oil and gas sector, and they must have stringent processes in place to retain integrity, transparency, and trust.

Auditor reports, which comprehensively evaluate a facility’s methane emissions performance and recommend a certificate grade, are reviewed by MiQ. Once approved, MiQ Certificates are issued into the MiQ Digital Registry.

MiQ and its auditors assess the methane emissions at facility (asset or platform) level. Our granular approach means that different facilities operated by the same company can end up with a different grading.

For each unit (1 MMBtu) of gas produced at a certified facility, a producer receives an MiQ certificate in their account on the MiQ Digital Registry every month.

The MiQ Digital Registry is a secure digital ledger where all MiQ Certificates are held from issuance to retirement, providing clarity on all MiQ Certificates by tracking certified gas from production through to retirement by the end-user. This ecosystem creates transparency around methane emissions, prevents double-counting, and enables end-users to claim the environmental credentials for their GHG reporting. The Registry has a low fee structure.

MiQ is designed to be flexible and adaptable. We actively work in partnership with Equitable Origin on several projects, as it has a proven track record of certifying energy production on ESG indicators in accordance with its EO100™ Standard for Responsible Energy Development, a set of rigorous ESG performance targets for energy development projects.

MiQ certified gas provides natural gas buyers with greater transparency on methane emissions so they can better understand what they’re buying and the impact it is having on the planet. With certified gas, buyers can choose lower emissions natural gas which can help with:

-Scope 3 emissions understanding and accounting

-Net zero and ESG reporting claims

-Employee retention and recruitment

-Stakeholder expectations

MiQ’s core principles include:

-Transparent, robust standards: the MiQ Standard is published on the MiQ website.

-Third-party audit: impartial auditors or verifiers are a critical ingredient to any certification program.

-Scalable and marketable: MiQ’s Certification is traceable using the MiQ Digital Registry. It is also scalable due to being technology-agnostic and allowing a range of auditors.

-Prevents cherry-picking: MiQ is encouraging all operators undergoing certification to eventually expand certification to all their assets.

-No conflict: Industry operator, auditor or methane monitoring providers can not have a financial or contractual interest in the MiQ Standard.  Auditors cannot have a financial interest in operators they audit.

Methane abatement is more vital now than ever before, and oil and gas emissions are low-hanging fruit. MiQ supports the transition to a 100% renewable future, but we can address methane now to help meet global climate targets.

Methane has more than 80 times the global warming potential of CO2, so reducing it helps buy time. The oil and gas industry emits the equivalent of 7bn tonnes of CO2 per annum but has the tools to abate up to 5.7bn tonnes by 2030. This is equivalent to taking 1.2bn polluting cars off the road.