Oil and gas industry jittery as EU nears deal on methane leakage

(EurActiv, 13 Nov 2023) Oil and gas producers warn the EU’s draft methane regulation will be impossible to implement in its current form as legislators near completion of draft new rules to crack down on methane leaks from fossil fuels.

Methane can leak from fossil fuel infrastructure during extraction, transport, or storage, and it has more than 80 times the global warming power of CO2 in the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere.

Tabled in December 2021, the EU’s draft regulation aims to reduce methane leaks from the energy sector and obliges the industry to detect and repair all methane-leaking components.

Representatives from the 27 EU member states and the European Parliament are meeting in Brussels on Tuesday (14 November) for a potentially decisive round of talks to finalise the methane rules.

But the International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) said it was “extremely concerned” about the regulation, saying some requirements in the draft EU rules “rely on technologies that do not exist”.

“The EU Methane Regulation is at risk of being impossible to implement by the European oil and gas industry because of certain requirements that are disconnected from reality,” said Nareh Terzian, head of strategy and communications at IOGP Europe.

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EurActiv, 13 Nov 2023: Oil and gas industry jittery as EU nears deal on methane leakage