An energy consulting firm with ties to several major environmental groups also represented a group of large oil producers as they sought to shape the Biden administrations new methane emission rules .

In June, Massachusetts-based consultancy M.J. Bradley & Associates published an analysis that ranked the oil and gas industrys largest emitters of methane and other greenhouse gases. The environmental group Clean Air Task Force and investor-focused climate nonprofit Ceres commissioned the report, which found that in 2019 the nations top 100 oil and gas producers accounted for nearly 80% of the industrys total reported emissions of methane, an extremely potent greenhouse gas, and other warming pollutants.

As our report shows, its the Wild West right now, with dramatic differences between companies when it comes to methane emissions and emissions intensity, Sarah Smith, director of the Super Pollutants Program at the Clean Air Task Force, said in a statement at the time. We need strong, sensible regulation of the oil and gas industry if were to have any hope of keeping global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius and staving off the worst impacts of climate change.

The reports authors hoped the findings would inform regulators, lawmakers and even company executives themselves, particularly as the EPA prepares to revise federal methane regulations this fall, CATF and Ceres noted in a release.

But a few months earlier, MJB&A had represented a group of oil and gas producers in a meeting with high-level government officials to discuss upcoming methane regulations, according to emails and calendars that the watchdog group Documented obtained and shared with HuffPost.

Five of MJB&As fossil fuel clients are among the industrys highest methane emitters, according to the firms own analysis: ConocoPhillips, BP, Shell, Pioneer Natural Resources and Equinor. ConocoPhillips and BP rank among the industrys top 10 greenhouse gas emitters.

The documents show MJB&A is happy to play both sides, said Jesse Coleman, a senior investigator at Documented.