President Trump told a crowd in Lubbock, Texas on Tuesday night that he was ending President Biden's methane regulations for the oil and gas sector.
The declaration was made during his second campaign stop of the day in the oil-heavy state, where he also sought to boost Republican Ken Paxton's Senate bid. He said he was "terminating President Biden's methane regulations today."
The proposed changes would markedly relax rules that govern how the industry handles methane, a greenhouse gas about 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Key elements expected in the administration's proposal include softer standards for marginal wells, which produce limited oil but account for roughly half of the sector's methane emissions.
The plan also aims to ease current limits on flaring, the burning of excess gas during oil production, and to scrap the Super Emitter Program that obliges companies to address credible reports of large methane leaks.
While the moves are likely to worsen climate change, the administration claims they could save the oil and gas sector $45 billion.
An official added that the shift could enable an extra 210 million barrels of oil and 1.41 trillion cubic feet of natural gas between 2027 and 2050, roughly equivalent to ten days of U.S. oil consumption and fifteen days of natural-gas use.
By contrast, when the Biden administration tightened methane rules in 2023, it estimated that the action would prevent 58 million tons of methane from entering the atmosphere from 2024 to 2038, the climate impact of removing 28 million gas-powered cars for a year.
