Every year, 200 billion cubic meters of fossil gas is lost through methane leakage and burning in the global fuel system. That is equivalent to nearly twice Qatar’s annual exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Cutting methane can restore energy that has already been released, while preventing it from entering the atmosphere and accelerating the climate crisis.
Every year, 200 billion cubic meters of fossil gas is lost through methane leakage and burning in the global fuel system. That is equivalent to nearly twice Qatar’s annual exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
At a time of unprecedented energy price crisis, tackling methane offers the fastest and most cost-effective opportunity available to strengthen Europe’s energy security. Yet when implementation begins, the full regulatory risks have not been realized.
A lobbying attack dressed up as energy security
Since the regulation was negotiated, oil companies have launched a massive lobbying campaign to undermine it – claiming the rules are unenforceable, using the EU’s deregulation agenda to reopen the rules and, more recently, using the energy price crisis to renew their attacks.
Pressures are amplified by transatlantic influences. Through anonymous meetings and the European Commission and direct political intervention, oil companies from the United States with the support of the Trump administration have repeatedly pressed the EU to modify the regulations to facilitate the flow of their LNG at a time when the EU’s dependence on American gas has reached a high level. an unprecedented high.
The arguments used by these interests misrepresent the impact of methane laws on the EU’s energy system, and the evidence shows they are unfounded.
