BRUSSELS, Belgium, July 20, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The European Union on Monday 
told member states to hold off imposing fines on oil and gas firms over 
planet-warming methane emissions for three years, after pressure to pause new 
rules.

Importers of oil and gas are required to monitor and report on methane 
emissions from January under the reform aiming to reduce leaks of the 
powerful greenhouse gas.

A dozen of the EU's 27 nations called for a delay in implementation, saying 
the rules would narrow Europe's supplier base at a time when energy markets 
are still reeling from the US-Iran war.

The call was backed by the United States, the bloc's biggest oil supplier.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, in recommendations to member 
states stuck to the 2027 start date for the rules to come into effect.

But Brussels said that countries should refrain from handing out fines until 
the end of 2029 to energy importers that fail to do their reporting.

It said the move would help to ensure "security of supply in a context of 
global energy markets tightness caused by the ongoing blockade of the Strait 
of Hormuz and the conflict in the Middle East."

Environment activists have called on the EU to maintain its methane rules 
unchanged.

The United Nations last month urged renewed efforts to reduce methane 
emissions, which account for one-third of greenhouse gas warming and are 
about 80 times more potent than CO2.

The fossil fuel sector accounts for 35 percent of methane released by human 
activity, mainly via leaks, flaring and venting from oil and gas operations.