Trump Administration Ends Methane Rules for Oil and Gas Drilling

The Trump administration is ending a federal rule designed to reduce methane emissions from oil and gas operations. President Donald Trump announced the decision on Tuesday during a campaign rally in Lubbock, Texas. The move reverses a policy established during the Biden administration that aimed to cut planet-warming greenhouse gases from the energy sector.

Trump stated that the administration is "terminating" the rule to save consumers and companies money. He claimed the change would unlock 210 million barrels of oil, a volume equal to roughly 10 days of U.S. petroleum consumption. The president said the action would save $45 billion in costs for energy producers and consumers.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin previewed the changes last month. He said the agency would eliminate its Super Emitter Program, which required companies to investigate and repair major methane leaks. The EPA will also set less restrictive standards for small oil and gas wells. Zeldin argued the rule would have cost $18 billion and held back the U.S. energy industry.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas responsible for about a third of global warming emissions, according to scientists. Oil and gas operations are the largest industrial source of the gas. The invisible gas leaks from equipment or is burned off as a waste product by drillers. It is far more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term.

The Biden-era rule was announced in 2023 at a U.N. climate conference in the United Arab Emirates. It was the first U.S. regulation to target existing oil and gas wells, not just new ones. Federal officials estimated the rule would prevent 58 million tons of methane emissions by 2038. The rule was projected to yield $98 billion in benefits by 2034, based on the social costs of greenhouse gas emissions.

The regulation required operators to plug leaks from smaller wells that produce 6% of the nation's oil and gas but account for up to half of all methane emissions from those fields. The EPA imposed an 18-month delay last year to give companies time to meet new inspection requirements. The rule was also coordinated with a methane fee that Congress repealed weeks after Trump took office.

Environmental groups criticized the rollback. Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, said the move gives companies a "free pass" at the expense of American consumers. He stated that the EPA should be fighting the waste rather than making it easier. Republicans in Congress have also moved to dismantle other climate policies, including lower fuel economy standards and the repeal of emission restrictions for power plants.

The administration cites high fuel prices and the war in Iran as context for encouraging more domestic drilling. The final rule was published in 2024. The methane fee program would have charged energy producers up to $1,500 per metric ton of methane if they exceeded certain emission levels. This marked the first time the U.S. government directly imposed a fee on greenhouse gas emissions.