European Commission considers one-year delay to methane rules — OilPrice

The European Commission is considering postponing for one year the entry into force of the part of methane emissions rules concerning gas imports. OilPrice reports, citing a statement by European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jørgensen.

According to Jørgensen, he instructed his services to examine the possibility of delaying the import-related part of the legislation by one year. He said this should give market participants time to comply with the new requirements without harming energy security and prices.

Requirements for LNG suppliers

The regulation provides that companies selling liquefied natural gas to European buyers must provide data on the fuel's methane footprint, from extraction to transportation by tanker. A penalty-free regime had previously been introduced for the first year the rules were in force so that importers could adapt to the requirements.

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The United States and Qatar, the two largest suppliers of liquefied natural gas to the EU, have repeatedly opposed these rules. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright late last year called the regulation impossible to comply with and a critical non-tariff trade barrier for American exporters.

Supplies and prices

OilPrice links the possible revision of the timeline to the tense situation on the European gas market ahead of winter. The publication notes that supplies of Qatari LNG have been disrupted, a ban on Russian gas is expected from January, and Norway is already supplying the EU with the maximum possible volumes of pipeline gas.

Delaying the rules could reduce risks to supplies of U.S. LNG, but it will not solve the problem of gas costs, the publication writes. According to its data, spot gas prices have returned to 2022–2023 levels, while storage inventories remain below average for this period.