President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration is moving to scrap Biden-era rules limiting methane leaks from oil and gas drilling, telling a campaign rally in Lubbock, Texas, that he is "terminating" what he called expensive and unnecessary regulations. Trump said the rollback would save companies and consumers billions of dollars and unlock 210 million barrels of oil, framing it as relief for small drillers and a boost to domestic energy production less than a week before the midterm elections.
The announcement, made during a rally for Texas Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, is the latest and most public step in the administration's year-long effort to unwind the methane framework put in
place under former President Joe Biden. According to reports, the move takes the form of a new Environmental Protection Agency proposal to rescind or sharply weaken the rule, rather than an immediate final repeal, and it is expected to face legal challenges from environmental groups.
Methane is the main component of natural gas and, scientists estimate, is responsible for about a third of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Oil and gas operations are the largest industrial source of the gas, which leaks from equipment and is also released or burned off as a waste product by drillers. Because methane is far more potent than carbon dioxide in the short term, cutting its emissions has emerged in recent years as a global priority for slowing the rate of climate change.
What Trump Announced
Speaking in Lubbock on Tuesday evening, October 27, Trump put the decision in blunt terms. "Tonight, I'm officially terminating Biden's expensive and unnecessary methane regulations," he told the crowd, according to reports of the rally.
Trump said the change would deliver $45 billion in savings for consumers and energy producers and open the way to an estimated 210 million additional barrels of oil, which reports equate to about 10 days of U.S. petroleum consumption. The Environmental Protection Agency has said the proposal would also add an estimated 1.41 trillion cubic feet of natural gas output.
The president argued that the Biden plan "crushed the small operators" with crippling regulations. He cast the rollback as a win for household bills and domestic fuel output at a time when his administration has faced criticism over high fuel prices amid the war in Iran, with the move aimed at encouraging more domestic drilling.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin praised the move in a separate statement, describing it as part of an effort to end what he called a war on oil and natural gas. The agency has said the proposal would cut costs for businesses and consumers, including operators of marginal wells.
What the Biden Rule Did
The rule at issue was finalized in 2024 and was the first time the federal government set nationwide limits on methane from existing oil and gas facilities. It required operators to eliminate and minimize leaks, flaring and venting of methane and volatile organic compounds. An earlier rule finalized in 2016 under former President Barack Obama had covered only new and modified sources.
A central piece of the 2024 framework was the EPA's "Super Emitter Program," which required companies to investigate large methane releases from oil and gas facilities when third parties detected them using EPA-approved remote sensing technology. The program was designed to catch the biggest leaks quickly, since a relatively small number of sites account for an outsized share of emissions.
Zeldin previewed the rollback last month, saying the agency would eliminate the Super Emitter Program and set less restrictive standards for small oil and gas wells. According to reports, the new measures would ease rules for wells producing less than 15 barrels of oil equivalent per day, a category that covers many small, low-producing wells operated by independent companies.
The administration's path to this point has been gradual. Zeldin announced in March 2025 that the agency was reconsidering the Biden-era regulations, and in early October the EPA said it would soon propose scrapping the rule aimed at curbing large methane leaks. The administration had already delayed implementation of the policy until next year after taking office.
Why the Administration Says It Is Acting
The administration's case rests on cost and energy supply. Officials argue that the methane rule burdened American energy producers with unnecessary requirements, raised costs for consumers, and discouraged domestic production at a moment when the country needs more oil and gas, not less.
The timing is also political. The announcement came at a rally for Paxton, who is locked in a tight Senate race against Democratic state Representative James Talarico, and just days before the November 3 midterm elections, which are centered heavily on the cost of living. The White House has been pressing to boost domestic drilling while facing political pressure over fuel prices tied to the war in Iran.
What Critics Say
Environmental groups reacted sharply when the EPA first signaled the rollback in October, and the criticism has continued since Trump's announcement. Mahyar Sorour, director of the Sierra Club's Beyond Fossil Fuels campaign, called the move a giveaway to fossil fuel executives, describing it as "foolish and short-sighted" and arguing that it reveals whose interests the administration serves.
Critics argue that methane is too potent a greenhouse gas to leave largely unregulated, and that scrapping the Super Emitter Program removes one of the few tools for catching the largest leaks. They also dispute the administration's savings claims, noting that methane captured instead of leaked can be sold, and that the health and climate costs of unchecked emissions fall on the public.
Legal experts expect the rollback to be challenged in court, as previous EPA deregulatory moves have been. Opponents are likely to argue that the agency must justify reversing a rule it previously found necessary to protect public health, and that the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to regulate pollutants it has found endanger public health and welfare.
What This Means
The practical effect of the rollback will depend on its final form. A proposal to rescind the rule must go through a public comment period and a final agency action, and it could be stayed or overturned in litigation. Until then, the existing legal framework remains in flux, and operators face uncertainty about which standards will ultimately apply.
For the energy industry, the signal is clear even before the rule is finalized: the administration intends to lower the regulatory cost of drilling, particularly for smaller producers. That could encourage additional production from marginal wells and from fields where compliance costs had made drilling uneconomic.
For the climate, the stakes are significant. Because methane breaks down faster than carbon dioxide but traps far more heat while it lasts, reducing methane leaks is one of the quickest ways to slow near-term warming. Environmental groups warn that weakening the rule now will lock in higher emissions for years, even if a future administration reverses course.
For consumers, the administration promises lower energy costs, but analysts note that oil and gas prices are set largely by global markets. The 210 million barrels the administration cites would amount to roughly 10 days of national petroleum consumption, a meaningful but not transformative addition to supply.
What Happens Next
The EPA is expected to publish its formal proposal, opening a public comment period in which industry groups, environmental organizations, states and the public can weigh in. The agency will then need to issue a final rule, which is almost certain to be challenged in federal court.
Meanwhile, states with their own methane regulations, including Colorado and New Mexico, will continue to enforce their rules regardless of the federal rollback, creating a patchwork in which standards vary sharply by location.
The announcement also lands against a backdrop of rising energy costs and an ongoing war in Iran that has pushed oil prices higher, with benchmark crude trading above $100 a barrel this week. Whether the rollback delivers the savings and supply the administration promises, and at what environmental cost, will be tested as the proposal moves through the regulatory process and, almost certainly, the courts.
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