Trump announces plan to ease oil and gas methane rules

President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that his administration plans to ease Biden-era limits on methane pollution from oil and gas operations. He said the change would save consumers and energy producers money, but the rules cannot change until the Environmental Protection Agency completes a formal rulemaking process.

“Tonight, I’m officially terminating Biden’s expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Texas. He accused Democrats of burdening small oil and gas operators. The announcement came a week before the midterm elections, with high fuel costs a key issue for many voters, NBC News reported.

Trump said the change would save $45 billion and unlock 210 million barrels of oil. The EPA estimates its proposal would save consumers and businesses $45 billion in costs and lead to production of an additional 210 million barrels of oil and 1.41 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to The Guardian.

The Biden administration finalized the methane rules in 2024. They required oil and gas operators to eliminate or minimize leaks, flaring and venting of methane and volatile organic compounds. The rules established nationwide methane requirements for existing oil and gas facilities for the first time, The Guardian reported. Methane, the main component of natural gas, traps more heat than carbon dioxide but breaks down more quickly. Scientists consider it about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide over 20 years, according to NBC News.

The EPA previewed plans this month to loosen regulations on methane leaks at lower-producing oil wells, also called stripper wells. NBC News reported that the agency also plans to eliminate the Super Emitter Program, which was designed to let third parties report major methane leaks. Under the existing rule, companies had to investigate major leaks near oil and gas facilities detected by third parties using EPA-approved remote sensing technology, according to The Guardian. The Trump administration paused implementation of the program last year, NBC News reported.

Lower-producing wells account for about 7% to 8% of U.S. natural gas production but could be responsible for about half of methane leaks, research suggests, according to NBC News. The National Stripper Well Association urged a rollback, saying in a letter last month that compliance costs “will make the wells uneconomical to operate.”

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin defended the planned changes when the agency previewed them. “Americans must be able to afford to heat their homes in the winter and fill up their car and drive to work,” he said, according to NBC News.

Environmental and health groups warned that weaker controls would increase pollution. Liz Scott of the American Lung Association said harmful pollutants escape alongside methane. “The pollution that’s released alongside methane carries immediate health harms, particularly for communities living near oil and gas sites,” she told NBC News.

The Guardian reported that records obtained by the watchdog group Fieldnotes show oil and gas companies and trade groups met with the EPA at least 38 times to discuss methane regulations during the current administration’s first year. Fieldnotes researcher Julia Kane said the industry had worked behind the scenes to weaken the rules.

Before any rollback can take effect, the EPA must complete rulemaking, including a public comment period. David Doniger, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told NBC News he expects a lawsuit if the agency finalizes it.