Resources
/
News
/
Aug 20, 2024

Industry News: EU Imposes New Methane Reporting and Reduction Regulations, Impacting North American Oil and Gas Producers

Policy
Industry Insights
Energy Transition
Share this post

Kathairos has emerged as the leading North American solution for methane elimination from pneumatics, with more than 1,000 systems in operation across North America and over 40 major oil and gas producer partners.

About Kathairos

In this post

The European Commission has recently announced the implementation of strict new regulations to curb methane emissions and require intensive emissions monitoring and reporting.

Proposed in May and published in the Official Journal of the European Union earlier this summer, the regulations are currently in the final stage prior to enforcement.  

Kathairos Solutions: Timeline of upcoming EU methane elimination regulations

What's happening?

According to the latest update in the Official Journal, “Importers of crude oil, natural gas and coal to the Union should be required to provide to the relevant competent authorities information on measures related to measurement, reporting, verification and mitigation of methane emissions undertaken by exporters to the Union.”  

Despite producing very little oil and gas itself, the EU is the largest importer of fossil fuels globally, with much of its fuel originating from North American producers, including top US exporters like Chevron and Exxon. Subsequently, the new regulations target not only EU-based methane emissions, but exporters of oil and gas as well.  

The United States alone supplies the EU with nearly 50% of its LNG and oil, indicating that the new regulations will likely have a critical effect on the energy industry, and particularly American producers.  

In addition to requiring methane emissions reduction strategies from oil and gas producers, the regulations mandate strict measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification (MMRV) data collection from exporters, including third-party verification. The new regulations will begin impacting importers of oil and gas to the EU as early as 2025.

"Kathairos is dedicated to assisting our industry partners through the methane elimination process, as well as providing accurate emissions reporting."

Regulations

At its core, the new legislation put forth by the European Commission hinges on the important aspect of accurately monitoring and reporting methane emissions. MMRV must be conducted according to the “highest standard,” as regulated by the EU.  

However, the EC is also in the process of setting a maximum methane intensity level, which all exporters will need to comply with in the next few years. Although the exact intensity level has not yet been determined, oil and gas producers will likely need to implement effective methane mitigation technology to ensure compliance with EC-mandated methane emissions levels.  

How Kathairos can help

Despite the obvious implications these regulations have for oil and gas producers, suppliers proactively demonstrating their commitment to methane mitigation will be well-poised to take these policies in stride; Kathairos is dedicated to assisting our industry partners through the methane elimination process, as well as providing accurate emissions reporting. Kathairos’ unique technology uses liquid nitrogen to eliminate methane venting from pneumatic devices on upstream and midstream oil and gas facilities, providing an innovative and clean solution that is effective, affordable, and easy to implement. Using onsite telemetry, we can also supply our partners with valuable and accurate emissions data that will soon be required by importers in the EU.

Learn more about our methane emissions technology and monitoring here.  

Explore more posts from Kathairos