New rules would limit methane emissions from oil and gas

"The Biden administration unveiled a sweeping set of policies Tuesday to cut emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from oil and gas operations," The Washington Post reports. It marks "the first time the federal government has moved to comprehensively tackle the seepage of methane across U.S. oil and gas infrastructure." 

Dino Grandoni and Steven Mufson of the Post provide background: " Methane, a main component of natural gas, is the world’s second-largest contributor to climate change among greenhouse gases. Although it dissipates more quickly than carbon dioxide, it is 80 times more powerful during the first 20 years after it is released into the atmosphere."

 

The Environmental Protection Agency's proposed rules, which could become final at the end of 2022, would "establish standards for old wells, impose more frequent and stringent leak monitoring, and require the capture of natural gas found alongside oil that is often released into the atmosphere," the Post reports. "The oil industry has opposed federal methane regulations in the past, but many major companies have come to embrace them rather than face a patchwork of state rules."

The rules would require most operators to use infrared cameras or other instruments four times a year to spot and plug leaks of invisible methane from compressor stations, "as well as sites the agency suspects are leaking more than three tons of methane annually," the Post reports. "The EPA is also set to restrict the venting of natural gas found in oil wells, known as associated gas, requiring operators to route the gas to a pipeline when possible. . . . For the first time, older oil and gas wells, which are most prone to leaks, will have to curb methane. The new proposal will require states to develop their own methane rules for existing wells that are in line with federal guidelines, while the EPA will regulate all new wells."

At the global climate summit in Scotland, more than 80 nations said they had signed a pledge to limit methane, "but some of the largest methane emitters still haven’t signed the pledge, including Russia and China," the Post notes. "Climate scientists say the world desperately needs drastic cuts in methane emissions to prevent catastrophic warming. . . . Plugging methane leaks is not just good for the health of Earth’s climate system. It also decreases the accumulation of toxic and smog-forming chemicals around oil drilling sites that makes the air difficult and dangerous to breathe."