EQT Corp., the Lower 48’s largest natural gas producer, has launched a pilot program to demonstrate that the fossil fuel can be produced in an environmentally responsible way as buyers across the world continue demanding higher standards.

EQT has partnered with environmental monitoring company Project Canary to continuously measure methane emissions and obtain certification that natural gas from two well pads in the Appalachian Basin is responsibly produced. The ultimate goal of the pilot, the company said, is to show that gas can be produced with both high environmental and social standards. 

EQT CEO Toby Rice said the pilot would help confirm “the emerging domestic and international markets for this differentiated commodity and the important role that United States...