The EPA has published a proposed rule to regulate methane and other emissions from new and existing oil and gas production sites and other portions of the oil and gas industry. The proposed rules are to be revisions and additions to the rules in Subparts OOOO and OOOOa and are the Biden Administration’s first entry into the back-and-forth regulation of this sector during the Obama and Trump Administrations. The proposed rules, however, go farther and are more expansive than even the Obama-era regulations.

The Biden Administration has famously imposed an “all of government” approach to addressing climate change. The effort began on President Biden’s first day when, among other things, he revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, paused new oil and gas leasing on federal lands, and re-entered the Paris Agreement. These, and other actions, contrasted sharply with the Trump Administration’s full-throated support of oil and gas production. 

According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, the United States produced more petroleum in 2020 than it consumed and exported more petroleum than it imported, making the United States a net annual petroleum exporter for the first time since at least 1949. As to natural gas, total annual exports generally increased each year from 2000 through 2019 as increases in natural gas production contributed to lower natural gas prices and the competitiveness of natural gas in international markets. In 2019, the United States exported natural gas to about 38 countries and total annual natural gas exports were 4.66 trillion cubic feet, the highest on record, and the United States was a net exporter of natural gas for the third year in a row.  For more information about Trump-era oil and gas production, click here.

Continue reading “Uh OOOO! More Regulation for Oil and Gas Production” →