The EU has agreed on new restrictions on methane emissions aimed at Europe’s energy sector as well as oil and gas importers, in an effort to crack down on the potent source of global greenhouse gases.

Oil, gas and coal companies will have to monitor, detect and repair methane leaks across the bloc in rules that will also apply to the importers of fossil fuels from 2027, in regulations agreed on Wednesday. By 2030, importers will have to meet maximum methane intensity thresholds, yet to be defined.

Methane emissions relating to the EU’s imported energy are up to eight times higher than domestic production.

The EU negotiators also agreed to ban almost all venting and flaring of methane during oil and gas production, and operators will need to undertake leak detection and surveys within a year of the law coming into force, after being formally signed off by the European parliament.

The EU move comes ahead of the COP28 climate conference in the United Arab Emirates later this month. It follows a push led by the US and the EU to cut global methane emissions by 30 per cent by 2030, under a pledge signed at the UN climate summit in Glasgow in 2021.

The EU has set an overall target to reduce all greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent by 2030, compared with 1990 levels.

However, the EU negotiators did not agree a specific target on the reduction in methane from its energy sector this week, as called for by the parliament.

Methane is responsible for about a third of global warming. It has a shorter lifespan in the atmosphere but has a more intense warming effect than carbon dioxide, which lasts for hundreds of years. As a result it is regarded as a quicker fix in the effort to limit climate change.

Much of the escaped methane, which is the main component of gas, is released during production and distribution of oil and gas as a result of flaring, or burning of excess gas, or poor infrastructure behind the leakage.

The practice has been described as “an extraordinary waste of money in addition to its negative impacts on climate change and human health”.

The world’s biggest methane polluters including China, Russia and India were not signatories to the global methane pledge, though China has taken a small step in the past week by agreeing to monitor methane leakage.

Jutta Paulus, a Green MEP and lead negotiator on the agreement from the European parliament said the bloc agreement was essential to putting pressure on other countries to improve their climate targets at COP28.

“From a political point of view: it’s very important we go to COP with full hands, we show we are taking action on methane, we are also looking beyond our borders because you know the vast majority of our energy is imported,” she said.

Speaking at an industry event in London, Peter Clarke, senior vice-president of Global LNG at ExxonMobil, said he did not expect the new rules to significantly impede US imports to Europe. The US oil and gas majors are not the biggest culprits of methane leakage, which is largely attributed to smaller operators.

“All of the progress around emissions reduction is a positive for the gas business. Ultimately, it delivers what we’re selling, which is lower greenhouse gas-intensity fuel and takes coal out of the picture,” he said.

Additional reporting by Shotaro Tani in London