Environmental Protection Agency

A federal court on 18 May formally paused a lawsuit over an Obama administration methane regulation.

The US EPA’s 2016 New Source Performance Standards updated the 2012 standards by adding requirements for the industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, specifically methane. The 2016 NSPS also covers hydraulically fractured oil wells and production, processing, transmission and storage activities.

The US government is working on regulations to reduce oil industry methane emissions by more than 40% over the next 10 years.