EU Methane Plans Include New Rules For Oil and Gas Producers

New European Union rules requiring oil and gas companies to report methane emissions, and improve their systems to detect and reduce methane leaks, will be proposed next year, the European Commission said.

On leak detection and reduction, efficiency standards could be set for flaring to minimize methane generation, the commission said Tuesday in a strategy paper. Flaring is the burning off of natural gas generated during oil production, which produces methane as a byproduct.

• Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and a halving of methane emissions worldwide could reduce the amount of global warming through 2050 by 0.18 degrees ...