Biden administration sued over drilling ban
The American Petroleum Institute and 11 other trade groups said August 16 they filed a lawsuit challenging a moratorium on new drilling on federal lands and in federal waters.
A legal advisor for the trade group, Paul Afonso, described the drilling ban as an indefinite one, adding the federal government is ignoring congressional mandates that require lease sales for drilling on federal territory.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
“The law is clear: the department must hold lease sales and provide a justification for significant policy changes,” he said of the Interior Department. “They have yet to meet these requirements in the eight months since instituting a federal leasing pause, which continues to create uncertainty for US natural gas and oil producers.”
Judge Terry Doughty of the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana ruled June 15 that states had proved they would suffer financially from the pause on new oil and gas drilling outlined in an executive order issued by president Joe Biden in one of his first acts after taking the oath of office on January 20.
Testifying before the House Committee on Natural Resources, US interior secretary Deb Haaland said the federal government would “follow the decision of the court,” pending a judicial review across several agencies.
But that was early this year. The US Interior Department, which handles leases, has made very few announcements this year apart from sanctioning various offshore wind and solar energy projects.
The moratorium only addresses new drilling. The latest rig count report from Baker Hughes showed that US drillers put 10 new rigs in service during the week ending August 13. At 500, the number of active rigs is at a 16-month high.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Louisiana.