Page 7 - NorthAmOil Week 12 2021

NorthAmOil COMMENTARY NorthAmOil

However, a MAAW Law international trade leases across the Western states, more than 9mn
lawyer and principal, Mark Warner, told Can- acres (36,422 square km) offshore and about
ada’s Financial Post that the new lawsuit raises 7,700 unused drilling permits.
“legitimate legal arguments that you could fight Indeed, Louisiana Governor John Bel
over for years”. Unless TC Energy announces Edwards, a Democrat, who is urging Biden to
that it is cancelling the pipeline outright, Key- reconsider the moratorium, has nonetheless
stone XL may therefore not be dead for some also pointed to the stockpiled undeveloped
time yet. leases and the fact that permits are now being
issued for them.
Federal leasing “Just as you’re starting to have the communi-
The lawsuit against Biden’s moratorium on fed- cations get you to a point where you’re feeling
eral leasing similarly raises concerns over lost better about things and the permits are being
jobs and revenue and argues that the move rep- issued probably isn’t the best time to file litiga-
resents an overreach. Biden and multiple federal tion,” Edwards said.
agencies bypassed comment periods and other
bureaucratic steps required before such morato- What next?
ria can be put into place, the states involved have There is much as yet unknown about how long
claimed in the lawsuit. the litigation will go on for or what its outcome Biden can expect
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, who may be. What is more certain, however, is that
led the lawsuit, accused the Biden administra- Biden can expect to keep running into opposi- to keep running
tion at a news conference of “effectively banning tion to his oil and gas policies and moves. While into opposition
oil and gas activity that supports businesses, it will mostly come from Republicans, it can also
employs our workers and, also, as importantly, come from moderate Democrats, and those to his oil and
funds our coastal restoration projects”. leading states where the oil and gas industry is a
The lawsuit seeks to reinstate scheduled lease significant contributor to the economy. gas policies and
sales that have been suspended in the US Gulf of Biden’s plans ultimately involve renewables
Mexico and Alaska’s Cook Inlet, among others and other forms of clean energy generating moves.
that have also been postponed. jobs and revenue. But these plans are still vague,
However, the Biden administration has and their long-term nature means they can be
argued that the moratorium does not stop com- derailed by a future president with a different
panies from drilling on their existing leases, and view on energy policy.
thus if federal leasing is permanently ended, the The challenge now is for Biden to achieve
impact will not be felt for some time. as much as possible in terms of setting the US
“This will not affect oil and gas production up for the energy transition over the next four
or jobs for years to come,” White House Press years. But as these lawsuits show, the energy
Secretary Jen Psaki said when asked about the transition comes at a price for oil and gas
lawsuit’s claims at a briefing this week. companies and the states where they operate.
It is estimated that there are almost 14mn And the path forward will not be a straight-
acres (56,656 square km) worth of undeveloped forward one.™

Week 12 25•March•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P7