As Biden's EPA Preps Methane Regulations, Prepare For Flood Of Crocodile Tears From Oil & Gas Sector
The Biden administration is set to release a major crackdown on oil and gas methane emissions in the coming weeks, but concerns are brewing about how the rule could affect small operators and how much the nation’s leading oil- and gas-producing states may fight the plan.
Small oil and gas operators say the coming methane rules from EPA could have an outsize impact on the low-producing wells that are their lifeblood, and trade groups and companies have filed comments with the agency asking for a carve-out to protect those sites. They argue that EPA lacks adequate emissions data for low-producing wells, while environmental groups say the so-called stripper wells are a serious emissions problem and need to be regulated.
The forthcoming rules are also expected to be received differently in states like Texas and North Dakota, where efforts to cut methane have largely been voluntary. That contrasts to states like Colorado and New Mexico, where Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) has tasked state agencies to craft what would be the tightest methane controls in the nation. While lawsuits over the regulations are all but inevitable, some industry officials also say that the context of the debate has changed. They are advocating for specific protections that will give parts of the industry breathing room, instead of denying that climate change is happening or that there is a need to address it. “I don’t hear anyone making those comments anymore,” Jason Modglin, president of the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers, said in an interview.
Methane, the primary component of natural gas, has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over a 20-year time span, and EPA’s closely anticipated plan will cover new and existing oil and gas infrastructure. The draft rules — which are under review at the White House — would strengthen federal methane regulations issued in 2016 that apply only to wells, processing plants and other facilities that were built or modified after 2015 (Climatewire, Sept. 8). The first-of-a-kind proposal for older sources would apply to most U.S. oil and gas infrastructure (Greenwire, Sept. 20).
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https://www.eenews.net/articles/oil-states-brace-for-biden-methane-rule/