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EU Considers Lifting Methane Requirements for U.S. LNG
The European Union is considering what Reuters called tweaks to its methane emissions regulation in order to stimulate higher LNG imports from the United States, the publication has reported, citing unnamed sources in the know.
The goal, per these sources, was to allow for “equivalent” methane standards to be applicable to U.S. liquefied natural gas exports to the European Union without weakening the overall regulation, Reuters noted in its report. The Biden administration pressured the energy industry in the U.S. to invest in methane emission tracking and control, which puts producers in a relatively favorable position.
“The Commission has an ongoing dialogue with industry on all relevant matters related to our legislation,” a spokesperson for the EU’s executive organ told Reuters.
The EU’s so-called methane regulation was approved by the European parliament last year and essentially requires all suppliers of liquefied natural gas to the bloc to accompany their cargos with documentation certifying that the methane emissions related to the production of the LNG were tracked, monitored, and, most importantly, minimized. Qatar did not take kindly to that regulation, stating it would simply stop selling LNG to European buyers, leaving said European buyers with a more limited pool of sellers.
Now, it seems LNG supply security has trumped emission fears in Brussels, and not a moment too soon—methane emission reporting by LNG suppliers to the European Union was set to enter into effect from next month. LNG suppliers, by the way, were not overnight fans of the regulation.
“The methane regulation in general is a good thing,” Ralf Dickgreber, chief of global LNG and biomass at France’s Engie, told an industry event recently. However, “we don’t know exactly how to interpret the rules out there . . . How to comply with it is very difficult at this stage,” the executive said, as quoted by the Financial Times.
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