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Biden administration seeks EU alignment on methane

standards for

LNG imports

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EU law to impose methane limits on oil and gas imports

from 2030

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Trump plans to reverse Biden's methane regulations

By Valerie Volcovici

BAKU, Azerbaijan, Nov 13 (Reuters) - President Joe

Biden's administration has asked the European Union to ensure

liquefied natural gas shipments that meet U.S. methane

regulations automatically comply with Europe's standards for

imports, according to a letter seen by Reuters.

Linking U.S. and EU methane standards would safeguard United

States' growing LNG trade with Europe while also cementing

Biden's methane rules, even if they are eventually repealed by

President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration.

"We understand that this process will take time. However, we

would like to begin discussions as soon as possible, to ensure

the continued reliable and stable supply of natural gas from the

United States to Europe," the U.S. officials wrote in an Oct. 28

letter, just days before Trump's decisive win in the Nov. 5

election.

The letter was signed by Brad Crabtree, head of the

Department of Energy's fossil energy office, and Joe Goffman,

head of the Environmental Protection Agency's air office, and

addressed to the European Commission's top energy official Ditte

Juul Jørgensen.

A European Commission spokesperson did not immediately

respond to a request for comment.

A spokesperson for the EPA confirmed it sent the letter with

the DOE and that the EU had confirmed receipt.

The United States is the world's top oil and gas producer,

and its exports of LNG surged after Russia's invasion of Ukraine

led European countries to cut their dependence on Russian energy

and seek other sources.

Methane, the main component in natural gas and LNG, is a

powerful greenhouse gas and more than 150 countries, including

the U.S. and EU members, have pledged to slash its emissions by

30% this decade to fight climate change.

European Union countries approved a law in May to impose

methane emissions limits on Europe's oil and gas imports from

2030, pressuring international suppliers to cut leaks of the

potent greenhouse gas during production and transport.

The EU has not yet designed the exact methane limits, or

determined how another country's domestic methane regulations

could be considered "equivalent" to its own.

The Biden Administration, meanwhile, passed rules late last

year cracking down on U.S. oil and gas industry releases of

methane, which are being administered by the EPA.

On Tuesday, it finalized a methane charge on large methane

leaks at oil and gas facilities.

Trump has said he plans to reverse or revoke dozens of Biden

administration regulations to ease burdens and costs for the US

energy industry, with methane rules among the first likely

targets. On Monday, he announced that ally and former New York

lawmaker Lee Zeldin would be his EPA administrator, and said

Zeldin would "ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that

will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American

businesses."

In August, 10 US-based trade groups including the Chamber of

Commerce and American Petroleum Institute flagged concerns to EU

officials about their methane-related import requirements.

"The importers failing to comply with these obligations

might be prevented from importing their supplies to the EU, and

therefore the EU's security of supply could be severely

impacted," they wrote in an Aug 2. letter.

Jonathan Banks, global director on methane at the Clean Air

Task Force, an environmental group, said the EU's standards,

along with others in the works, will require U.S. suppliers to

clean up regardless of any U.S. regulatory rollbacks.

"Market access will be dictated by proof of low methane

emissions," he said.