For the third time in a matter of weeks, EU ambassadors will try on Friday (6 November) to agree whether to delay the EU’s methane rules for oil and gas imports by one year or by three.
Big Oil, the Trump administration and a growing group of member states have been pushing for a delay, citing supply and legal risks.
For a long time the commission refused to propose a delay, but in October it finally buckled and proposed one year.
Much of what led up to that has been reported, including on our pages. But we obtained 55 internal documents from the commission’s energy department that show how it tried to handle the pressure, and eventually failed.
They cover more than a year, from the first talks with the Trump administration in March 2025 to the spring of 2026.
US dislike of the rules has not been a secret. Trump officials and allied industry groups attacked the EU methane regulation openly and regularly.
Climate wise there is a lot at stake. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that traps around 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide over 20 years. A lot of it leaks into the atmosphere from wells, pipelines and gas terminals.
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