雪佛龙称有条件考虑投资欧洲LNG再气化进口产能，需欧盟先明确甲烷规则

Chevron Corp. is considering investing in European liquefied natural gas import capacity, but needs greater clarity on the bloc’s methane rules before making a long-term commitment, according to the head of its gas business.

The US oil major is interested in building out regasification capacity as part of an expansion of its pipeline-gas business in Europe, Freeman Shaheen, Chevron’s president for global gas, said in an interview last week. Such capacity would allow Chevron to deliver imported gas directly into the continent’s grid and reach downstream customers.

“We’re very interested in Europe,” Shaheen said. With regasification capacity — which turns LNG back into a gaseous state — “you can supply directly into the grid and help support that market.”

Europe’s reliance on LNG imports from the US and elsewhere has grown sharply ever since it lost most Russian pipeline deliveries during the 2022 energy crisis.

But according to Chevron, investing further in the infrastructure that supports such imports requires having greater clarity on Europe’s methane rules, Shaheen said. Under the European Union’s latest proposal, fossil-fuel imports will have to comply with monitoring, reporting and verification requirements aimed at reducing methane emissions, and by 2030, imports exceeding a certain methane-intensity threshold will face penalties.

Natural gas is primarily methane, and sometimes there are leaks or emissions during its production and transport. The potent greenhouse gas traps around 80 times more heat than CO2 in the atmosphere over a two-decade time span, and tackling methane is seen as key to curbing temperatures rises in the short-term.

The US government has warned that its output will head elsewhere if the bloc refuses to ease its rules, and industry associations have also called for a re-opening of the regulation. The debate is likely to grow louder before the end of the year.

“If you’re going to make long-term commitments on regas, you need to have better clarity around those regulatory issues as well,” Shaheen said. “For the right terms and the right regulatory environment, we’d be very interested in partnering with the right people.”

Chevron is more generally exploring how to expand its LNG business. Some opportunities the company is considering include monetizing its gas resources in the Eastern Mediterranean and Argentina, potentially with a floating LNG export plant, as well as looking at potentially more supply from the US, Shaheen said.