Methane emissions from the energy sector remain at a very high level – despite various pledges by the oil and gas industry to fix leaks and replace leaking infrastructure. This is according to a new report published by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Wednesday. The production and use of fossil fuels released 118 million tons of methane into the atmosphere last year – a slight increase over 2022. In the record year of 2019, the figure was 119 million tons. The number of large methane leaks from leaky fossil fuel infrastructure increased by 50 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year.