Trump administration scraps methane rules for oil and gas

President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration is ending the federal requirements designed to limit methane emissions from oil and gas drilling. Speaking at a campaign rally in Lubbock, Texas, for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, Trump stated that the new action terminates regulations put in place during the Biden administration.

The decision reverses a rule that required oil and gas companies to identify and fix major leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The Environmental Protection Agency had previously implemented a program to target these significant releases, a measure that agency head Lee Zeldin described last month as the end of the Super Emitter Program.

Zeldin argued that the previous rule would have cost the energy sector $18 billion and hindered production. Under the new approach, the agency will set less stringent standards for small oil and gas wells, which are numerous but individually produce less energy.

Trump claimed the change will save consumers and energy producers $45 billion in costs. He also projected that the rule would unlock 210 million barrels of oil, a volume equivalent to roughly 10 days of U.S. petroleum consumption. The administration argues that reducing regulatory burdens will help lower fuel prices, a topic that has drawn criticism due to high costs during the war in Iran.

Methane is the primary component of natural gas and is far more effective at warming the atmosphere than carbon dioxide over short periods. Scientists estimate it accounts for about a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. In the oil and gas industry, the gas often leaks from equipment or is burned off as a waste product.

The rule being removed was originally announced at a United Nations climate conference in 2023. Federal officials at the time projected it would prevent 58 million tons of methane emissions by 2038. They calculated that the rule would generate $98 billion in benefits by 2034, based on the social costs of emissions to public health and the environment.

A key difference between the Biden-era rule and previous regulations was its scope. Older rules focused on new wells, but the 2024 final rule also regulated existing facilities. It required operators to plug leaks in smaller wells that produce 6% of the nation's oil and gas but contribute up to half of all methane emissions from these fields.

The rule was linked to a waste emissions charge of up to $1,500 per metric ton for producers who exceeded specific limits. That fee, approved in the 2022 climate law, was the first direct tax on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Congress repealed the fee shortly after Trump took office last year.