Page 10 - NorthAmOil Week 48 2021

NorthAmOil POLICY NorthAmOil

Federal acreage
accounts for around
a quarter of US oil
production.

Biden administration proposes changes

to federal leasing programme

US THE administration of US President Joe Biden the Biden administration’s initial pause to federal
has published the findings of its review of the leasing programmes was overturned by a judge
country’s federal oil and gas leasing programmes. earlier this year, forcing lease sales to resume.
The review was launched by the US Depart- US Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has The proposals
ment of the Interior (DoI) shortly after Biden said she wants to reduce the carbon footprint of
took office at the start of the year, and its findings US federal land and waters by encouraging leas- fall short of
had initially been anticipated to be released in ing for renewable energy sources instead of fossil
the summer. No explanation has been given for fuels. However, the DoI’s proposals do not call Biden’s election
the delays in the run-up to the report’s publica- for an end to oil and gas leasing. Instead, the rec-
tion last week. ommendations include adjustments to “royalty campaign pledge
The DoI said in a November 26 statement and bonding rates, prioritising leasing in areas to stop new oil
that it had found “significant shortcomings” in with known resource potential and avoiding
the US’ leasing programmes. It proposed a series leasing that conflicts with recreation, wildlife and gas leasing
of reforms to the programmes aimed at ensuring habitat, conservation and historical and cultural
they “provide a fair return to taxpayers, discour- resources”. on public land
age speculation, hold operators responsible for US law requires a minimum royalty rate of
remediation and more fully include communi- 12.5% for oil and gas produced on federal acre- and in federal
ties and tribal, state and local governments in age, with this level not having been changed in waters.
decision-making”. over 100 years. The report noted that onshore
The proposals fall short of Biden’s election royalty rates for federal oil and gas leases were
campaign pledge to stop new oil and gas leasing “consistently” lower than those for state-issued
on public land and in federal waters, however. As and offshore leases.
a result, they came under fire from environmen- The American Petroleum Institute (API),
tal groups for not going far enough, even as oil an industry group, warned that the propos-
and gas industry groups criticised the same pro- als would place additional cost burdens on
posals for being too stringent. This comes after energy producers.™

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 48 02•December•2021