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On Tuesday, a judge cleared the way to resume the sale of oil and gas leases on public land in the United States, issuing an injunction to prevent the Biden administration from suspending new projects and hitting the president’s efforts to free the country from fossil fuels.
The Louisiana court ruled in favor of 13 states that widely support fossil fuels, including Texas, Alaska, and Oklahoma. White House suspends new leaseThe decision allows the lease to be resumed when the court hears further debate on the case.
Judge Terry Doughty said: “The omission of any reasonable explanation in the cancellation of the lease sale and the suspension has led to the court’s ruling that the plaintiff state is also very likely to succeed based on the merits of this claim.”
The ruling is a Major setback Joe Biden ordered the suspension of new leases for fossil fuel development on public land and waters in January, while reviewing licensing procedures.
The suspension-without affecting existing drilling permits-fulfilled election promises and marked the president’s most important step towards the energy sector He campaigned “The transition away from oil.”
The Ministry of the Interior said it would abide by Tuesday’s decision, but would continue the review, and said it would “outline the next steps and recommendations.”
The department declined to comment on when the lease auction will resume.
The suspension did not affect activities on private land, which accounts for the majority of U.S. oil and gas production. Instead, it applies specifically to federally held land and waters, which account for approximately 22% of U.S. oil production.
But the judge found that the suspension could cause major harm to states that rely on public land for production. “Millions or even billions of dollars are in danger,” Dowty wrote. “The Plaintiff State has a dependent interest in the proceeds of offshore and onshore oil and gas lease sales.
The decision was welcomed by the oil industry. “Federal lease suspension is detrimental to our country’s national security, environmental progress, and economic recovery,” said Kevin Oskanlan, vice president of upstream policy at the American Petroleum Institute, a powerful Washington lobby group for major oil companies. “We are very pleased to see the court ruling that natural gas and oil leases must be restored on federal land and waters.”
The National Marine Industry Association, which represents the Gulf Offshore Drilling Company, also welcomed the decision, saying that the decision “simply confirmed” the legal requirements of the Ministry of the Interior to arrange offshore oil and gas lease sales.
But Tuesday’s ruling is unlikely to be the final decision on the matter. The preliminary injunction will remain in effect until the case is finally resolved or an appeal to a higher court.
“Victory may be short-lived,” wrote an analyst at ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington consulting firm. “We not only hope that the Ministry of the Interior will appeal the ruling, but we also believe that the Biden administration may seek to suspend the lease through other mechanisms.”
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