Macron urges EU to postpone methane reporting rules for importers

(Recasts, adds details from letter throughout) PARIS, Sept 22 (Reuters) — French President Emmanuel Macron has written to the European Commission urging it to postpone new methane reporting rules for oil and gas importers, arguing they could create legal risks for importers as energy supplies tighten. Macron's letter to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, dated September 18, was first reported by French newspaper Les Echos and has been seen. The new rules, due to come into effect on January 1, will require monitoring and verification of methane emissions for fuel deliveries to the bloc, aiming to curb leaks of the potent greenhouse gas and imposing fines if companies breach the regulation. Macron called for the regulations to be delayed by a year until January 1, 2028. Methane is the second-biggest contributor to global warming behind carbon dioxide. Several EU members including Germany, Europe's biggest gas market, have already pushed for the rules to be delayed. In response, the European Commission in July instructed EU member states to waive financial penalties linked to the regulation for three years, until the end of 2029, because the war in Iran had led to tight supplies, but has not agreed to postpone implementation of the rules. Macron, in his letter, also called for the EU to temporarily loosen fuel-quality rules to boost European production of kerosene and diesel by as much as 20% as supply pressures mount. French refiners estimate that easing some specifications could increase fuel production by 5% to 20%, depending on the refinery, Macron said in the letter. The French president also proposed relaxing biofuel-blending limits, including allowing distributors to replace B7 diesel, which contains up to 7% biodiesel, with B10, containing up to 10%. (Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Makini Brice and Forrest Crellin; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Susan Fenton) ((M.Brice@thomsonreuters.com;)