Shutterstock Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter US producers are facing a growing quagmire of mandates to reduce methane emissions, with several federal policies in flux despite being slated for completion later this year. With three major mandates anticipated by late fall, there is much at stake for the green-minded Biden administration as it eyes the COP28 UN climate talks in Dubai in November. And while the industry has come around on top-down federal methane requirements in recent years, there are concerns about regulatory overreach and the impact on costs for many operators. Last year’s COP27 in Egypt included high-level focus on methane policy outcomes after 2021's Global Methane Pledge to reduce emissions of the highly potent greenhouse gas by 30% by 2030. The Biden administration, one of the architects of the pledge, has proposed plans aimed at slashing the industry's methane emissions by as much as 87% below 2005 levels, but the policies to achieve this are hardly straightforward. While producers generally recognize the need to address methane emissions to sustain the role of oil and gas in the energy transition, they are struggling to untangle what complying with this complex web of regulations will look like.
