Overview
- Major exporters — the United States, Qatar, Nigeria and Algeria — sent an open letter on June 24 urging the EU to pause the methane import law and introduce targeted amendments because they say there is no viable path to compliance.
- The EU regulation requires methane monitoring from next year, full alignment of imports by 2027 and penalties by 2030 that could reach up to 20% of turnover; the European Commission has declined to reopen the law but is proposing lighter implementation steps and delaying penalty enforcement until 2030.
- U.S. officials and industry groups argue that tracing methane through a fragmented U.S. production and pipeline network to guarantee low-methane LNG is practically impossible, and they say exporters and importers are unwilling to sign contracts that might violate EU law.
- Technical studies conflict over supply: a Wood Mackenzie report backed by industry says nearly half of EU gas imports could struggle to comply while Rystad Energy, reporting for the Environmental Defense Fund, concludes there is ample compliant gas, and that disagreement drives the lobbying fight.
- Several EU governments led by the Czech Republic and Slovakia, joined by Italy, the Netherlands and Poland, will press the Commission at Friday’s energy ministers' meeting to seek delays or changes, a decision that could affect European gas availability and prices for households and industries.