CALGARY — Oil and gas producers who have already made progress in reducing their methane emissions over the past decade say it will be harder to achieve further large-scale reductions.

The federal government released new proposed regulations Monday that would require Canada’s oil and gas producers to reduce their total greenhouse gas emissions by about a third over the next eight years.

The majority of Canada’s energy sector emissions come from CO2 pollution from Alberta’s vast tar sands operations, which were responsible for 40% of overall oil and gas industry emissions in 2022.

But even though the oil sands are the industry’s biggest contributor to emissions, Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault said government modeling suggests about half of the reductions required under the new rules could come from of the conventional sector, excluding tar sands.

The conventional sector produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas, as a byproduct of the oil and gas drilling process.

Partly thanks to government regulations, the oil and gas sector reduced its methane emissions by 45 percent between 2014 and 2022. But Ottawa wants the industry to achieve a 75 percent reduction by 2030, which, according to producers, will constitute a major challenge.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published November 5, 2024.

Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press