GHGSat, Petrobras, And MAVIPE Space Partner To Reduce Methane Emissions Across Brazil

GHGSat, the world’s leading emissions-monitoring company, announced today a new partnership with Petrobras, Brazil’s largest energy company, and MAVIPE Space Systems to monitor and mitigate methane emissions across Petrobras’ offshore and onshore operations in Brazil. This collaboration underscores a shared commitment to advancing emissions management in the energy sector while accelerating progress toward global sustainability goals ahead of COP30.

GHGSat operates the world’s largest fleet of satellites designed specifically to support industrial operators to reduce methane emissions. A powerful instrument on GHGSat satellites allows GHGSat to zoom in directly on the source of emissions in high resolution, pinpointing them to a 25-meter area, often to individual pieces of industrial equipment. The only satellite data provider with the scale required to revisit sites at a daily frequency, GHGSat alerts operators within hours of a detected emission, providing the most comprehensive global coverage in the field. In 2022, GHGSat became the first satellite technology to successfully detect and measure methane emissions from offshore sources—a critical tool for oil & gas operators, as offshore production accounts for roughly 27 percent of global gas production. These capabilities are uniquely suited to support Petrobras’ efforts to measure, verify, and reduce methane emissions across its diverse portfolio of assets.

As Brazil’s largest oil and gas producer, Petrobras plays a central role in both the country’s energy supply and its environmental strategy. Petrobras has already taken significant steps toward emissions reduction, including programs to minimize methane leaks, improve operational efficiency, and meet international standards such as the Oil & Gas Methane Partnership (OGMP) 2.0 framework. Between 2015 and 2024, Petrobras reduced its absolute operational greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent and its upstream methane emissions by 69 percent. The new partnership with GHGSat and MAVIPE Space Systems builds on these initiatives, equipping Petrobras with cutting-edge emissions monitoring technology to support its objective of achieving operational emissions neutrality by 2050.

Through the collaboration, GHGSat satellite data will be integrated into a robust data platform built by MAVIPE Space Systems, which develops cutting-edge solutions to automate analysis of satellite imagery. The program will enable the integration of GHGSat’s emissions data into Petrobras’ operational processes.

“Partnering with Petrobras marks a powerful milestone in GHGSat’s mission to equip the world’s energy leaders with the tools to cut methane emissions at scale,” said Stephane Germain, GHGSat CEO. “Not only will improved access to emissions data help Petrobras to accelerate its own sustainability initiatives, but looking forward, this work also sets a benchmark for operators across Brazil and beyond. Together, we can demonstrate how advanced satellite monitoring translates into real-world methane reduction, fueling progress for the entire industry.”

“Bringing GHGSat’s unique data into MAVIPE Space’s powerful data platforms ensures that Petrobras can fully harness its power for critical operational decisions,” said Marcio Perassoli, MAVIPE Space Systems CEO. “We are thrilled to provide the foundation that powers this collaboration.”

Reducing methane is widely recognized as one of the fastest and most effective ways to slow the rate of planetary warming. While methane is over 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat over a 20-year period, it only persists in the atmosphere for about a decade. This means that cutting methane delivers near-immediate environmental benefits, slowing warming much faster than CO_₂ reductions alone. Because many methane abatement measures can be implemented with existing technologies and deliver rapid results, tackling methane is considered “low-hanging fruit” in the global effort to limit warming.

For the energy sector, methane reduction also makes strong business sense. Methane is the main component of natural gas, so preventing leaks directly preserves a valuable commodity—potential product. Beyond operational efficiency, proactive methane management helps companies ensure that they can meet increasingly stringent global regulations, from OGMP 2.0 to the European Union Methane Reduction policy, which caps emissions for importers to the EU.

As Brazil prepares to host COP30 in Belém in 2025, this partnership comes at a pivotal moment. By deploying GHGSat’s advanced monitoring capabilities, Petrobras reinforces its commitment to reducing emissions and demonstrating climate leadership both nationally and globally. The collaboration will provide transparent data and practical insights that align with international climate frameworks and Brazil’s own decarbonization targets.