CEO DATELINE - Oil groups blast proposed limits on methane emissions
CEO DATELINE - Oil groups blast proposed limits on methane emissions
- August 19, 2015 |
- Walt Williams
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In an effort to fight global warming, the Obama administration is proposing new limits on the amount of methane emitted from oil and gas operations, but industry groups say the regulations will be costly while doing little to protect the environment.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the new regulations will cost the oil and gas industry $420 million by 2025, the New York Times reported. However, the agency said the regulations would result in $550 million in reduced waste during that same time period, resulting in a net gain for the industry. http://nyti.ms/1WEFBh6
Oil and gas associations are not buying the EPA's figures. Barry Russell, CEO of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, said the regulations would be an added burden at a time when oil and gas producers are facing many economic challenges.
"There are over one million existing oil and natural gas wells in the United States," he said. "None of these wells individually is a major greenhouse gas emitter."
Also sounding the alarm is the American Petroleum Institute, which called the regulations "unnecessary" because the oil industry has already made significant reductions in methane emissions.
"The last thing we need is more duplicative and costly regulation that could increase the cost of energy for Americans," API CEO Jack Gerard said. "Even as oil and natural gas production has surged, methane emissions from hydraulically fractured natural gas wells have fallen nearly 79 percent since 2005, and CO2 emissions are down to 27-year lows."
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