Methane Emissions

Recently announced rollbacks of Obama-era methane controls for the oil and gas industry appear destined for a legal and political onslaught, particularly if Joseph R. Biden Jr. is elected president. In a two-part rulemaking, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week rescinded the regulations enacted under the 2016 Oil and Natural Gas New Source Performance…

New Mexico authorities on Monday published two separate sets of draft rules aimed at curbing methane emissions from oil and natural gas operations. The Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD) unveiled what it called “New Mexico’s first comprehensive methane regulations,” which propose 98% natural gas capture from the oil and gas industry by the…

A federal judge has vacated the Trump administration’s attempt to rescind an Obama-era rule governing associated natural gas flaring and venting on public and tribal lands, citing “myriad inadequacies” on which the rescission was based, including violating National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations.  A coalition of environmental and citizens’ groups had argued that the move…

California regulators have rejected a request from Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) to postpone well testing at the Aliso Canyon underground storage facility because of the coronavirus lockdown. Since the largest methane leak ever occurred at the 3,200-acre, 86 Bcf capacity facility over a four-month period in 2015-2016, new state regulations require all storage wells…

A coalition of attorneys general (AG) from across the country filed comments Friday opposing a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposal to loosen Obama-era methane emission standards for the oil and gas industry.

Another shareholder is pushing Range Resources Corp. to more openly share its methane emissions reduction efforts, calling on the company to conduct and release a report by September that details how it’s managing the pollutant.