EU Signals One-Year Delay to Methane Import Rules as Gas Crunch Persists

The European Commission signaled it will postpone the import portion of its methane regulation by one year, Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen told Bloomberg, as Europe's gas supply crunch persists amid the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. "I have instructed my services to look into the possibilities of postponing the import part of the legislation with one year," Jorgensen said, adding the delay would give market actors time to implement the rules "without it hurting our security of supply and prices." The regulation, which would require LNG sellers to the EU to report the fuel's methane footprint from well to tanker, already saw a first delay this year via a no-penalty first-year regime. The U.S. and Qatar, the EU's largest LNG suppliers, have protested the rules. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright called the regulation "a critical non-tariff trade barrier" and sought an exemption through 2035; Qatar threatened to suspend sales. Spot gas prices are near 2022-2023 levels, storage sits below seasonal averages, and Qatari force majeure at Ras Laffan was extended another month.