A lobbying group for oil producers including Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) said it would accept proposed rules on pollution from oil wells in order to head-off a broad federal standard for methane leaks. The American Petroleum Institute , which has fought U.S. mandates on everything from smog rules to renewable fuel quotas, said it is willing to meet Environmental Protection Agency limits on the release of smog-forming compounds from hydraulically fractured wells. Such rules are in place for gas wells, and the EPA is considering expanding them to oil wells. “That’s a far better approach than any regulation towards methane,” Howard Feldman, director of regulatory affairs, told reporters in Washington today. “If it were done in the right way, it could be something acceptable.” In what environmental advocates say is the next climate test for President Barack Obama, the EPA is set to announce […]