The US’s top environmental enforcer vowed that no oil and gas systems would be “getting out of jail free” as the Biden administration strengthens a clampdown on methane pollution despite pushback from energy companies and Republican allies in Congress.

The Biden administration has made curbs on leaks of methane — the main component of natural gas — a crucial part of its fight to slash greenhouse gas emissions. Methane has accounted for around 30 per cent of the rise in global temperatures since the Industrial Revolution, according to the International Energy Agency.

Michael Regan, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, said in an interview that the administration was ready to “fight hard” against efforts to weaken new regulations to control methane emitted from oil and gas infrastructure.