The provincial government is advertising a 2024 decrease in greenhouse gas emissions from Saskatchewan’s upstream oil and gas sector.

A release from the government says this is the fifth-consecutive year of reductions, recording a 71 per cent decrease compared to 2015 levels, and a 13 per cent decrease compared to 2023.

Energy and Resources Minister Colleen Young attributes this reduction to investment and innovation in the oil and gas sector, such as installing combustion equipment at oil wells and facilities to burn off gas that would otherwise have been vented, and companies using vented gas on site as fuel.

According to the ministry’s Oil and Gas Emissions Management Regulations Annual Report, the amount of carbon dioxide equivalent reduced from the atmosphere since 2015 equates to taking 1.7 million passenger vehicles off the road for one year.