Trump Moves to Scrap Biden-Era Methane Rules for Oil and Gas Industry

Donald Trump said his administration is "terminating" Biden-era rules that held oil and gas companies responsible for large leaks of planet-warming methane. He made the announcement at a campaign rally in Lubbock, Texas, on Tuesday evening.

"Tonight, I'm officially terminating Biden's expensive and unnecessary methane regulations to save consumers and energy producers," Trump told the crowd. He described the lifted rules as "crippling regulations on methane that caused prices to skyrocket" for small oil and gas operators.

Trump said the change would save consumers and energy producers $45bn and unlock 210 million barrels of oil, roughly equal to 10 days of US petroleum consumption. The move is intended to encourage more domestic drilling as the president faces criticism over high fuel prices linked to the US war in Iran.

In a press release, Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin praised the decision as a step "to end the war on oil and natural gas" through revisions to oil and gas regulations under the Clean Air Act. The EPA said its proposal would save $45bn in costs for consumers and businesses, including small firms running marginal wells, and would yield an estimated 210m additional barrels of oil and 1.41tn cubic ft of natural gas.

The 2024 rule required operators to eliminate and minimize the leaking, flaring and venting of methane and of volatile organic compounds, which are harmful to human health. It was the first time Washington had set nationwide limits on methane emissions from existing oil and gas facilities. A 2016 rule finalized under the Obama administration covered only new and modified sources. Under the newer rule's super emitter program, companies had to investigate major leaks near their facilities that third parties detected using EPA-approved remote sensing technology.

Zeldin announced in March 2025 that the agency was reconsidering the regulations. Last year, the US emitted more methane from its oil and gas sector than any other country, and methane is responsible for at least a quarter of today's warming.

Fieldnotes, an oil and gas watchdog, said industry groups and companies worked behind the scenes to weaken the rule even though some executives publicly backed it. Records the group obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show industry representatives met EPA officials about methane regulations at least 38 times during the administration's first year. Researcher Julia Kane called it "an extraordinary level of access." She said the industry presents itself as a "good-faith" partner but "time and time again it's worked behind the scenes to delay and weaken" regulations.

In one recorded call, Lee Fuller of the Independent Petroleum Association of America described an EPA meeting as "one of the more fascinating meetings that we've ever had," saying staff were suddenly willing to discuss changes the industry had sought for years. At a rally in Corpus Christi earlier on Tuesday, Trump acknowledged Harold Hamm, founder of Continental Resources, which wrote to the EPA in April opposing the rule's ban on routine flaring of associated gas.

The Environmental Defense Fund calculates that since the EPA announced in March 2025 it would no longer enforce the oil and gas rules, operators have leaked, vented or flared $7bn worth of natural gas. Rosalie Winn, the group's senior director and lead counsel, said the administration is trying to limit federal power to address climate pollution across the largest emitting sectors. "What this administration is doing is enabling the worst polluters in the industry to continue to make ever more money off the back of American consumers while they're wasting energy," she said.