After years of letting its methane regulation fall further and further behind modern best practices, the Alberta government appeared to have a breakthrough in late March.

But in slightly later March, we had to push the corks back into the champagne bottles.

On March 25, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Prime Minister Mark Carney announced their governments had reached an agreement-in-principle. The deal committed both sides to “an outcome-based equivalency agreement under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.” That should bring Alberta’s methane emissions down by the same amount as strong new federal rules announced in December 2025 after three years of consultation.

Crucially, the two governments also agreed to jointly select a third party “to conduct methane modelling, analysis of emissions reductions, and to assess methane reduction results.” This is a major development because the Alberta government’s methane inventory, which uses estimates self-reported by the oil and gas industry, indicated only about half of the methane emissions published in the national inventory report, which incorporates actual measurement of emissions........

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