EPA proposes loosening methane rules for oil and gas
The plan scraps the "super emitter" program and eases 2024 rules for small wells. Trump and Zeldin unveiled it in Texas.
The Environmental Protection Agency proposed Tuesday to loosen the methane rules for oil and natural gas that the Biden administration adopted in 2024. President Donald Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin unveiled the proposal in Lubbock, Texas.
The "super emitter" program, which relied on certified outside monitors to find the largest leaks, would be eliminated.
Well sites would be sorted in one of two ways, each with its own standards: by output (marginal or not) or by the resource they tap (conventional or unconventional). Marginal wells make up about four of every five producing wells in the country, the EPA says.
For gas that comes up alongside oil, operators could again burn it off or route it to control equipment that is 95% efficient, rather than being required to send all of it to a sales line. The "zero identifiable emissions" requirement for covers and closed vent systems would be split into design and operating requirements.
The agency estimates the change would save $45 billion and yield about 210 million more barrels of oil and 1.41 trillion more cubic feet of natural gas. Those are its own figures; it had put the cost of the 2024 rule at $18 billion. Zeldin said the president is keeping his promise to "end the war on oil and natural gas."
This is the second part of a review Zeldin announced on March 12, 2025. The first part was finalized April 9, 2026, and on Oct. 7 the administrator said the proposal was coming in "days, not weeks."
Over the short term, methane traps more heat than carbon dioxide does, and oil and gas are among its largest sources in the United States. The rules matter in Mexico because the U.S. is its main supplier of natural gas by pipeline.
The proposal is not yet a rule. Once it appears in the Federal Register, the public will have at least 45 days to comment, and the EPA will hold a hearing.
