EU privately talks emissions rules with US gas firms as Trump trade war looms

BRUSSELS — The European Union is discussing emissions rules with U.S. oil and gas firms as industry pressure mounts to eradicate barriers to buying more fuel in a trade deal with President Donald Trump.

In the crosshairs are upcoming EU methane regulations, which will impose fines on gas importers that don’t meet new monitoring and emissions requirements. The rules have been a key focus in a string of meetings between the two sides in recent weeks, according to three government officials and industry figures.

The most recent gathering took place Tuesday, when European Commission officials met with liquified natural gas (LNG) industry representatives in the U.S. That came after the EU executive’s top energy official, Ditte-Juul Jørgensen, also flew to the U.S. to discuss methane rules.

The exchanges are taking place alongside ongoing trade talks between senior EU officials and the Trump administration, which has threatened to impose high tariffs if Europe doesn’t relent on numerous demands, including that it buy more American fuel.

“I think it’s very encouraging to see EU leaders thinking creatively about how they can get off on the right foot with the new administration — energy is a critical piece of that,” said Chris Treanor, executive director of the Partnership to Address Global Emissions (PAGE), a Washington-based lobby representing top oil and gas investors.

Treanor, whose group advocates boosting U.S. liquified natural gas (LNG) exports, represents industry bosses who are among those holding talks with Jørgensen, who heads the Commission’s energy department.

He said the visit with Jørgensen was “particularly related to new cargoes in Europe, but also [to] potential discussions about methane equivalency” — or how emissions are measured, quantified and compared to targets.

Starting in 2027, EU countries will penalize importers if they don’t comply with resource-intensive requirements to monitor and repair leaks of methane, a gas emitted during the production, storage and transport of natural gas. That could prompt fines on EU importers — many of whom are American subsidiaries — for buying U.S. fuel that doesn’t meet the standards.

Industry bosses are campaigning for the rules to be redrawn, but proponents and climate advocates say the regulations are critical, noting that methane is significantly more damaging to the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.

“In these meetings, the EU has expressed readiness to talk about methane,” said one Commission official, granted anonymity to discuss the issue outside of normal communications channels.

While an overhaul of the bloc’s new methane regulations, which became law last year, is not expected, one industry representative said the requirements around measuring methane emissions and the maximum limits allowed could change.

Hitting U.S. LNG importers with fines could trigger Trump’s ire and undermine hopes that buying more LNG can stave off a transatlantic trade war.

“The Europeans are saying that they want more LNG from the United States,” said a second industry figure, granted anonymity to speak about the private meetings. “But this methane intensity cap, and how to actually define that, is a real challenge.”

Discussions on changing the EU’s methane rules are “definitely coming,” said David Goldwyn, head of international energy consulting firm Goldwyn Global Strategies and a former State Department official in the Obama administration.

Goldwyn predicted that Europe will not want to squeeze its domestic economy too tightly as it seeks to both refill its natural gas supply and promote industrial activity.

“I think they may delay implementation of methane rules to ensure they do not raise prices too soon or too fast,” he said.

Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said at a press briefing that Tuesday’s talks were solely at “a technical level” and were designed to “take stock” of the views of different parties.

Still, any revisions to methane rules would likely prompt disagreements within the Commission.

“At this stage, we’re not repealing anything,” said a second Commission official, arguing that doing so would be a “very short-sighted move.”

Gabriel Gavin reported from Brussels. Ben Lefebvre reported from Washington, D.C. Victor Jack contributed reporting.