The cognitive dissonance is strong. In a late Friday afternoon, holiday weekend news dump, the Biden administration, after months of delay, finally released its draft of the Outer Continental Shelf five-year offshore leasing program – but made no guarantees that when the plan is finalized it would actually include oil and natural gas lease sales.
Read More...For the first time in American history, the U.S. Interior Department has allowed the existing Outer Continental Shelf 5-year offshore leasing program to expire without having a new plan in place. In fact, the expiration date came and went without even a draft proposal ready for public and congressional review due to an “unexpected” delay.
Read More...If there was any doubt that the U.S. oil and natural gas industry is interested in investing in increasing production on federal lands, it was laid to rest this week: Seventy percent of parcels offered received bids resulting in nearly $22 million during the first onshore sales to take place since early January 2021. That
Read More...The first oil and natural gas federal onshore lease sale in 18 months brought in an incredible nearly $13 million in a single day showing that there is massive interest for investing in increased production. Just over 100 parcels were auctioned today in Wyoming with around 20 more being offered in a second sale tomorrow
Read More...In a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, a group of Democratic U.S. senators don’t appear to understand the purpose of the five-year outer continental shelf oil and natural gas leasing program that’s required by law. The senators, overwhelmingly representing states with no offshore oil and gas development, are lobbying the administration to leave out
Read More...If you’re scratching your chin over U.S. energy policy these days, you aren’t alone. The Biden administration has been sending mixed signals for months over how it will shape the future of domestic energy production and consumption. And nowhere has that been more obvious or confusing than in the administration’s rhetoric and actions on oil
Read More...Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg became the latest Biden administration official to display a stunning lack of awareness around how the oil and natural gas markets work during an interview Sunday on ABC News “This Week.” When program host George Stephanopoulos asked Buttigieg about the national average price for a gallon of gasoline quickly approaching $5
Read More...In an odd turn of events this week, President Biden appeared to do a complete 180 from the previously stated White House position that the administration is using every tool in its toolbox to encourage increased U.S. oil production, as a tool to lower the price at the pump. Let’s hear the president’s seemingly new
Read More...During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden said that if elected he would “phase out fossil fuels.” Just hours after being sworn in, his administration began to make good on that promise, issuing executive and secretarial orders to curtail domestic production. Today, the United States is importing increasing volumes of oil from Russia while
Read More...It’s been two weeks since a federal judge ruled that the Biden administration’s ban on oil and natural gas leasing on federal lands (or “pause” as the White House describes it) is illegal, but the Interior Department has still not indicated when leasing will resume. Now the pressure is building for the department to give
Read More...America’s hard-fought energy superpower status could be faltering after data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that crude oil imports rose sharply in the past week, while exports fell. EIA’s Weekly Petroleum Status Report said: “U.S. crude oil imports averaged 6.9 million barrels per day last week, up by 197,000 barrels per day
Read More...The Biden administration’s attempt to block responsible oil and natural gas development on federal lands and waters was dealt a major blow on Tuesday after a federal court ruled that it was an illegal pause on new lease sales. Banning new oil and gas development on federal lands was a key campaign promise from President
Read More...More than four months after the original sale took place, the Department of Interior has finally issued more than three dozen oil and natural gas leases on federal lands from a January lease sale. WildEarth Guardians has threatened to sue over the action, despite it being outside of the parameters of the current pause on
Read More...Residents of the Gulf Coast are already feeling the impacts of the Biden administration’s offshore leasing moratorium, which has thrown the once-vibrant offshore energy industry into a period of significant uncertainty. Despite this, federal officials will not say whether the administration will lift the moratorium or extend it into a permanent ban. During a Senate
Read More...While some opponents of responsible energy production used a recent Department of Interior forum to call for a ban on all oil and natural gas development on federal lands, or to make the Biden administration’s pause on new leasing a permanent ban, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland began the event with an important acknowledgement: “There is
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