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EU Methane Regulation Compliance

Methane regulation compliance that traces each LNG cargo back to its feed-gas field, and says plainly what the file cannot prove yet.

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Follow one contract from 09:10 to 09:43 ↓
The problem

Methane regulation compliance breaks where a cargo loses its producer

A buyer sends a letter asking for one line: all the gas on this contract was measured to the standard. Term purchases name their plant and its fields. Cargoes bought from a trader's portfolio, or reloaded from a storage tank, often carry no producer name at all, and the rule makes no exception for unknown origin.

So the analyst chases sellers by email, counsel reads a letter without the evidence behind it, and the desk rewrites the same answers for each questionnaire. Meanwhile a verifier's statement quietly goes out of date, and a clean line that cannot be backed becomes a false record the importer carries.

Built forMethane compliance analystsGas contracts counselTrading desk leadsOutside verifiers

The Problem Today

Buyers want one clean line on methane, but cargoes from traders often reach the desk with no producer name.

7%
of world oil and gas output at the top reporting level, 2024 published
20%
of annual turnover: what a fine can reach under the rule published

Chased across inboxes today

  • Agreements
  • Cargoes
  • Reports
  • Emails
  • Same questions from each buyerAnswers rewritten for each questionnaire, often without the evidence
  • Dates that move on paperA proposal is not law, and the two are easy to mix up

The Solution

  1. Walk the sale backThrough traders and portfolio cargoes to each plant and feed-gas field
  2. Four checks on each sourceProducer named, top measurement, verifier in date, duty in the contract
  3. Split the answerProved, claimed by others and unknown, each cited to its page
  4. Ask the one right partyThe exact request, with a reminder clock, to whoever can close the gap

Built-in controls

  • Analyst marks, counsel signs, desk lead sends
  • Agents never write equivalence for unproved gas
  • A proposed date never replaces the law

What You Get

Sellers answer buyers with statements that hold up, and importers get a record they can defend line by line.

584
hours a year saved on 1,960 buyer questions our estimate
  • One signed answer, many buyersRepeat questions matched, and questions on gaps held back
  • An evidence file per contractThe chain, each status and each decision in one download
  • A verifier's view by invitationOne contract at a time, read only
One contract, one morning

One LNG contract traced to its feed-gas fields in thirty-three minutes

A portfolio sale of 14 cargoes, 14,400 GWh, full proof required. The buyer's letter asks for one line saying all of it is equivalent. Here is how the analyst, counsel and the desk lead answer it by trace and claim, screen by screen.

demoSellers, buyers, fields, cargo volumes and prices here are sample data.

  1. 0109:10

    71% traced to a named producer, and one lot with nothing behind it

    Methane compliance analyst

    The trace-back draws the contract from the importer to each field, band width by volume: proved 52%, claimed 19%, unknown 29%. Opening lot PF-27-A shows its four checks empty. Two portfolio cargoes, 1,872 GWh, and no document names a plant or a field. Her proof stops at that lot, and she sees it before the buyer asks.

  2. 0209:13

    Out of 2,184 papers, one cargo statement names the missing field

    Agents, for the analyst

    She asks the agents to find the missing producers. They walk each purchase back and search 2,184 agreements, cargo confirmations and seller statements. One turns up: the portfolio seller's nomination statement names the field and plant behind PF-27-A. The agents mark it claimed, at 93% confidence, because a seller's word is not a measurement.

  3. 0309:13 to 09:16

    The page itself says it is not a measurement

    Methane compliance analyst

    Before deciding, she opens the statement. Lot, quantity, delivery period, plant and field are lit where they sit on the page, and so is the line saying no third party has verified it. She may reject it, giving her reason, or accept it as claimed, never as proved. She accepts it as claimed, for tracing only, pending verification.

  4. 0409:16

    Traced climbs to 84%, and proved stays at 52%

    Methane compliance analyst

    The chain redraws with 12,096 of 14,400 GWh traced to a named producer. Proved has not moved, because nothing new was verified: claimed grows to 32% and unknown falls to 16%. The reason she gave goes on the audit trail for counsel to read. A buyer asking about measured gas gets the 52%, and nobody can blur the two on this screen.

  5. 05Before the request

    Asked for a clean letter, the agent writes the split instead

    Statement writer agent

    A clean letter would say all 14,400 GWh meets the rule. Instead the agent gives three numbers: 7,488 GWh proved, 4,608 only stated by others, 2,304 with no producer at all. The contract was signed after the cut-off, so a reason for a gap is not enough. The buyer carries that duty and has to know.

  6. 0609:19

    One request, to the one seller who can close lot PF-27-C

    Request drafter, then the analyst

    Lot PF-27-C falls in the next gas year, and its seller issues that statement later. The agent drafts request R-0488 to that seller alone, asking for the nomination statement and saying why the buyer needs it. She edits the wording and sends it at 09:22. The reminder clock starts, with a hand-off to the desk lead on day 20.

  7. 0709:25

    2,304 GWh marked not yet provable, with the reason in her words

    Methane compliance analyst

    The last 16% has two honest causes. RL-27-B came out of a storage tank holding cargoes from several plants, so nobody can name one producer. PF-27-C waits for a statement due next year. She picks that reason, marks the volume, and sends the statement to counsel at 09:28. The letter heading now reads not yet provable.

  8. 0809:31

    Counsel cannot sign until each of the three parts is opened

    Gas contracts counsel

    Opening proved, claimed and not yet provable in turn, counsel reads the claimed part longest: three fields, each with the documents behind it, and a button to reject a claim outright. Rejecting would drop traced back to 71% and return the statement. He reads them all between 09:31 and 09:37 and lets each claim stand.

  9. 0909:40

    Signed at 09:40 on one condition: the buyer is told the gap

    Trading desk lead

    Counsel signs with the reason that the evidence matches and the buyer must be told the gap. Only now does the desk lead see the button to send it to the buyer. She sends at 09:43 a statement that says what is proved, what others state and what nobody can show yet. All three names and reasons sit on the audit trail.

Six supplies behind one contract, and where each stood after the trace

The same 14,400 GWh, supply by supply. Only one line moved, and it moved to claimed.

Supply on the contractGWhBefore the traceAfter the trace
Term purchase, first plant5,472ProvedProved
Term purchase, second plant2,016ProvedProved
Cargoes bought from a trader, two fields2,736ClaimedClaimed
Portfolio lot PF-27-A1,872UnknownClaimed
Portfolio lot PF-27-C864UnknownNot yet provable
Reload from storage RL-27-B1,440UnknownNot yet provable

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Around the trace-back

Sources, requests, questionnaires and the rule dates the desk works from

The screens the analyst, counsel, verifier and auditor work in between buyer letters. Open any of them full size.

Supply sources38 sources with status worked out from the file. One verifier's statement is past 12 months, and two unreadable scans each carry a button to ask for a clean copy.
Requests to suppliers19 open requests, each with a clock. A reminder goes on day 10, the desk lead takes it up on day 20, and refused mail shows its own fix.
Buyer questionnaires151 of 186 questions match a signed answer. Counsel opens 12 drawn at random first, and one bad answer stops the batch.
Law today and a proposalThe proposal to move the dates sits in its own lane. The what-if shows what would shift, and no statement moves until it is law.
Evidence fileOne file per contract: each source, its status and its documents. An invited outside verifier reads this contract only and cannot act.
The chained recordEach step of the morning in order, chained to the one before: the find, her reason for accepting it, the request, each part counsel opened, his signature and the send.

demoSample data, from the working solution.

Buyer questions, and 584 hours a year the desk gets back

Our estimate, from the sample book's questionnaire load.

Buyer questions a year1,960
Answered by hand, at 25 minutes each817 h
With signed answers matched, and only fresh questions drafted151 of 186 sample questions repeat a signed answer233 h
Hours saved584 h

estimatedOur estimate.

Three people on each methane statement, and what each reads first

The analyst cannot sign her own statement, and the agents sign nothing.

Methane compliance analyst
Sees
The chain, each source's four checks and each find with its page
Signs
Accepts or rejects finds, sends requests, marks what is not yet provable
Gas contracts counsel
Sees
Each part of the statement, opened one by one before the sign button works
Signs
Signs or sends back the statement, and can reject a claim
Trading desk lead
Sees
Signed statements only, and requests the clock has handed over
Signs
Sends to the buyer
Outside verifier
Sees
One invited contract and what its statement rests on
Signs
Nothing; reads only
Internal auditor
Sees
The chained trail, filtered to people or agents
Signs
Nothing; reads the trail and exports it
The agents

Seven agents walk the chain, and none may call gas equivalent

Each one hands to a person when the paper runs out.

Contract reader

Reads agreements, confirmations and seller statements, each value tied to its page.

  • Never guesses a date
Trade tracer

Walks each sale back through traders and portfolio cargoes to the plant and its fields.

  • Never infers a producer from a pattern
Evidence checker

Runs four checks on each source: producer named, top measurement, verifier in date, duty in the contract.

  • Never marks a source proved by hand
Rule watcher

Files each rule document as law, guidance, not binding or proposed.

  • Never moves a date before it is law
Request drafter

Writes the exact request to the one party who can close a gap, and runs its clock.

  • Never sends anything
Answer librarian

Matches buyer questions to answers counsel has signed.

  • Never matches a question that turns on unknown volume
Statement writer

Splits each statement into proved, claimed and unknown, each cited.

  • Never writes equivalence for unproved volume
  • Never writes compliant or certified

What stays with the analyst, counsel and the desk lead

The agents find, check and draft. People decide what goes to a buyer.

A seller's word stays claimedOnly the analyst accepts a find, and only as claimed until a verifier's statement backs it.
A gap is named, never smoothed overVolume nobody can trace is marked not yet provable by a person, with a reason the buyer reads.
Counsel signs what he has openedThe sign button waits until each part of the statement has been read.
Only the desk lead sendsNothing reaches a buyer without the analyst's mark, counsel's signature and the desk lead's send.
Proposals stay proposalsA date someone plans to move shows as a what-if, and no statement quotes it as law.

What gas trading and compliance teams ask about methane regulation compliance

What is methane regulation compliance for an LNG seller?

Methane regulation compliance here means showing an importer how the gas on each contract was measured at the producer. For LNG the producer that counts is the feed-gas producer behind the liquefaction plant. This solution walks each sale back to that producer, checks the evidence, and splits the answer into proved, claimed and unknown for counsel to sign.

How does trace and claim work here?

Trace and claim follows the contracts and transactions, not the molecules. The agents walk each sale back through traders and portfolio cargoes to a plant and its fields, using agreements, cargo confirmations and seller statements. Each link carries the document that names it, and the status follows from what that document can show.

What does MRV equivalence ask of the volume we sell?

Monitoring, reporting and verification equivalent to the standard the importer is held to. Here a source counts as proved only with a named producer and asset, top-level measurement, an independent verifier's statement in date and a contract duty to pass it down. Anything less is claimed or unknown, and the statement says so.

What happens when no document names a producer?

The volume stays unknown, and the agent drafts the exact request to the one party who can close it, with a reminder clock. Where nobody can ever name one producer, as with a cargo reloaded from a tank holding several plants' gas, the analyst marks it not yet provable and the buyer is told why.

Can it write the clean letter a buyer asks for?

No. The statement writer will not write equivalence for volume it cannot prove, nor the words compliant or certified. It writes what the evidence shows, part by part. The buyer and its authority decide what that means for them.

Do methane contract clauses come into it?

Yes. The clause check reads each sales contract for who the importer is, what information is passed down, the verifier's evidence, consent to share and release on recognition. The analyst drafts an amendment from the model wording, and counsel reads it and rules before anything changes.

What if the dates move?

A proposal to move them is filed as proposed and shown beside the law as a what-if. Statements quote the law as it stands. Methane intensity reporting, a later step, is tracked the same way, and no date moves until it is law.

Who can see the evidence?

The analyst, counsel and the desk lead see their own steps, and the auditor reads everything and exports the trail. An outside verifier is invited contract by contract, reads only that contract and has no buttons. Access follows the systems of record, read only.

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Bring one sales contract
and its cargo confirmations.

We’ll trace it back to the field with you, and show where your own proof stops.

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