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EPA to issue methane rule this year

  • Market: Crude oil, Emissions, Natural gas
  • 11/03/19

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plans to issue a rule regulating methane emissions later this year, administrator Andrew Wheeler said today.

The administration planned a rule that better recognizes methane as a product as well as a pollutant.

"What we are trying to do is work cooperatively with the industry to help them capture their product more and to have fewer releases," Wheeler said on the sidelines of the IHS-CERAWeek conference in Houston.

President Donald Trump's administration has planned a two-step approach to rolling back methane emission restrictions that apply to new oil and gas facilities. The EPA already proposed but has not yet finalized a plan to cut in half the frequency of leak detection tests at most new facilities. EPA has also indicated it is planning a separate proposal to revise the way it regulates methane.

Oil and gas groups have pushed EPA to stop directly regulating methane as a greenhouse gas and instead reduce it through other rules because of concerns it will lead to costly new requirements at hundreds of thousands of existing facilities.


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Citgo auction result delayed amid last-minute motions

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US seeks to purchase 6mn bl for SPR


18/09/24
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18/09/24

US seeks to purchase 6mn bl for SPR

Washington, 18 September (Argus) — President Joe Biden's administration is trying to purchase 6mn bl of sour crude for delivery to the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) as part of a plan to issue solicitations when prices are "favorable for taxpayers." The US Department of Energy (DOE) today released a solicitation to purchase up to 6mn bl of sour crude for delivery in February-May to the SPR's Bayou Choctaw site in Louisiana. If the purchase is successful, it would be the largest single purchase since the Biden administration launched its crude purchase program in early 2023. The solicitation offers a chance for the administration to buy crude for the SPR at a lower price than earlier purchases. Nymex WTI crude futures for delivery in February settled at $68.41/bl on Tuesday. The lowest-priced crude purchase under Biden was a 1.7mn purchase at a price of $72/bl in June 2023, and the average purchase price is about $76/bl. Bids for the solicitation are due by noon ET on 25 September. DOE has already purchased more than 50mn bl of sour crude for the SPR, of which 30mn bl have already been delivered. On 9 September, DOE said it purchased 3.42mn bl of sour crude for the SPR's Bryan Mound storage site at a price of $72.46/bl from the trading firm Macquarie Commodities Trading. The crude will be delivered in January-March, adding to an earlier purchase of nearly 2.5mn bl that will be delivered to the Bryan Mound site over the same time frame. By Chris Knight Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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Wash. regulators plan for cap-and-trade vote


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18/09/24

Wash. regulators plan for cap-and-trade vote

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Brazil allocates R514mn to combat fires: Correction


18/09/24
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18/09/24

Brazil allocates R514mn to combat fires: Correction

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US Fed cuts rate by half point, signals more to come


18/09/24
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18/09/24

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