European Union countries have approved a law to impose methane emission limits on Europe's oil and gas imports from 2030, putting pressure on international suppliers to reduce leakage of the powerful greenhouse gas, reports Reuters.
Methane is the main component of natural gas, which is burned in power plants and to heat homes. It is also the second biggest cause of climate change after carbon dioxide and fuels global warming when it leaks into the atmosphere from oil and gas infrastructure.
At a meeting in Brussels, EU agriculture ministers announced their governments' final approval of the regulation, meaning it can now come into force. Only Hungary voted against.
From 2030, the EU will impose "maximum methane intensity values" for fossil fuels placed on the European market. The European Commission will determine the exact parameters by that date.
Financial sanctions
Oil and gas importers who ignore the restriction could face financial penalties.
The import rules are likely to affect major gas suppliers such as the US, Algeria and Russia. Moscow cut supplies to Europe after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and has since been replaced as Europe's biggest gas supplier by pipelines from Norway, whose supplies are the world's lowest methane-intensive.
US President Joe Biden's administration, which along with the EU has united countries to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030 to curb climate change, welcomed the EU's methane law.
Last year, the US introduced its own rules requiring oil companies to limit their methane emissions.
From 2027, the EU will require that new oil, gas and coal import contracts can only be signed with foreign producers that follow methane emissions reporting rules equivalent to those in the EU.
Under the rules, European producers must regularly check their operations for methane leaks, at intervals ranging from every four months for LNG terminals to every three years for subsea energy infrastructure.
EU policy also bans most flaring and flaring, where oil and gas companies deliberately burn or release unwanted methane into the atmosphere.