EPA Estimates $45 Billion in Savings From Proposed Review of Oil and Gas Rules
Key Facts
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said on October 7, 2026, that it would issue in the coming days the next part of its comprehensive review of the 2024 oil and gas rules, estimating that the proposal would save $45 billion. The agency said the 2024 rules imposed $18 billion in regulatory costs, offering its economic rationale for the proposed changes. The announcement concerns a review of parts of the rules known as OOOOb/c, not a confirmed wholesale repeal of emissions standards. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the review addresses burdens on marginal wells and oil and gas operators, the Methane Super Emitter Program, associated gas and control-device requirements. The announcement did not specify an expected quantitative effect of the changes on production or prices.
The plan includes changing how marginal wells are regulated. The agency said it would propose two options simultaneously, creating separate categories for well sites. Under this approach, well requirements would be considered under different classifications, but the announcement did not provide details of the proposed criteria for each category. The agency says burdens on marginal wells are among the issues the review will address. That places this part of the proposal at the center of changes affecting how the rules apply to production sites. The statement did not give a specific date for publication of the full proposal or details of the public-comment process.
Among the most significant changes announced by the agency is a proposal to eliminate the Methane Super Emitter Program, which allows third-party observers to detect and report large leaks using remote sensing. The agency said it does not consider the program necessary to meet Clean Air Act requirements and described it as ineffective. The announcement does not amount to an actual repeal of the program, as it concerns a proposal the agency will submit as part of its review of the rules. The proposal's timing is relevant to the industry because the program was scheduled to begin future implementation on January 22, 2027. The agency had extended that date under an interim final rule issued in 2025.
The agency also plans to split the standard for covers and closed vent systems into two parts: design requirements and operating requirements. It will also reconsider its overall approach to regulating associated gas extracted from oil wells, according to its announcement. The proposal includes technical changes that would provide flexibility in addressing deviations in flare-monitoring data, alerts from control devices and visible-emissions test conditions. Zeldin said associated gas and control-device requirements are among the issues the review will cover. The announcement did not detail how operational or technical requirements would change in the proposed text.
The review follows the agency's 2024 issuance of a final rule that included standards to limit methane and volatile organic compounds from new, modified or reconstructed oil and gas sources. The rule also included guidelines for states to develop plans to limit methane emissions from existing sources. The agency estimated at the time that the rule would prevent 58 million tons of methane emissions between 2024 and 2038, an approximately 80% reduction compared with projected emissions without the rule. It also projected reductions of 16 million tons of volatile organic compounds and 590,000 tons of toxic air pollutants over the same period. These estimates put the environmental impact the agency attributed to the original rules in context with its current review.
The current review followed earlier steps to ease compliance burdens. On November 26, 2025, the agency finalized extensions to multiple compliance deadlines for the oil and gas rules. It said the action would affect hundreds of thousands of sources and save $750 million over 11 years. On April 4, 2026, it approved limited technical amendments concerning temporary flaring provisions and monitoring the heating value of vent gas, estimating they would save the industry $2.5 billion between 2024 and 2038, equivalent to $208 million annually. On October 14, 2026, the agency's defense of extensions to compliance deadlines for methane restrictions faced scrutiny from the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, and Bloomberg Law coverage reported that judges expressed frustration with the administration's rationale. The October 7 announcement did not set a timeline for submitting the proposal or implementing any amendments.