Trump to propose relaxing oil and gas methane rules

{beacon} Energy & Environment Energy & Environment The Big Story Trump to propose relaxing oil and gas methane rules The Trump administration plans to loosen restrictions that rein in methane from oil and gas production, it announced Wednesday. © Matthew Brown, Associated Press The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a press release that…

October 7, 2026 at 06:15 PM· 376 words· updated October 7, 2026 at 06:15 PM

FILE – A flare burns at a well pad Aug. 26, 2021, near Watford City, N.D. American oil and natural gas wells, pipelines and compressors are spewing three times the amount of the potent heat-trapping gas methane as the government thinks, a new comprehensive study calculates. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown, File)

The Trump administration plans to loosen restrictions that rein in methane from oil and gas production, it announced Wednesday.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said in a press release that in the coming days, it will propose changes to Biden-era energy regulations .

It did not release a specific proposal but said it would make adjustments to several aspects of the Biden-era rule , including the repeal of a program that would require energy companies to respond to credible reports of major methane leaks.

The EPA also said it would propose to change regulations for a group of low-producing, high-emitting wells known as “marginal” oil and gas wells.

The agency did not detail what regulatory changes it will suggest related to these wells and did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for more information.

ProPublica reported last month , citing a draft that was under White House review, that the rule would dramatically loosen requirements for leak inspections and equipment upgrades at marginal wells, which are estimated to produce just 7 percent of the nation’s oil and gas but about half of its methane emissions.

Meanwhile, the EPA said Wednesday it would “revisit” its approach to excess gas that’s extracted alongside oil after the Biden administration sought to eliminate the burning off of this gas — known as flaring — at new wells. The EPA did not say what changes it was eyeing but that it would seek to make “compliance possible all over the country and ensure a reasonable approach.”

The EPA said in a written statement that the moves could save an estimated $45 billion.

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