Biden Administration

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing to change how public lands are managed to put conservation on equal footing as other uses, including oil and natural gas extraction. The BLM plan for conservation leasing would entail a time-limited lease of public land that allows interested organizations to conduct specific restoration or mitigation activities.…

U.S. businesses across the country, including natural gas and oil groups, are urging Congress to enact “meaningful, durable permitting reform” by summer’s end. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce organized the collaboration of more than 200 state and local chambers, as well as business, policy and labor organizations. In a letter sent to Congressional leaders, the…

The Biden administration has given the go-ahead to ConocoPhillips’ massive Willow project planned for Alaska’s North Slope. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued its Record of Decision (ROD) on Monday. The ROD said the approval included three drill sites (BT1, BT2 and BT3) and associated infrastructure. The approval includes up to 199 total wells,…

The American Gas Association (AGA) called the plan of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to electrify all new or recently renovated federal buildings “impractical, unscientific and expensive.” Earlier this month, the Biden administration unveiled its Federal Building Performance Standard (BPS), which aims to achieve “zero” direct on-site emissions, aka Scope 1 emissions, in 30%…

American exploration and production (E&P) companies raised oil output modestly last week as overall petroleum demand recovered some ground after multiple declines earlier in the fall, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday. U.S. oil production last week increased by 100,000 b/d to 12.0 million b/d, EIA said in its latest Weekly Petroleum Status…

OPEC-plus members, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, agreed on Wednesday to cut crude production by 2 million b/d. It marked the coalition of oil-producing countries’ largest pullback on output since the early days of the pandemic in April 2020, a move that could both send prices back to $100/bbl and aid Russia’s escalating war in…

Mexico, the United States and Canada continue to work through their trade policy differences as the world’s energy supply becomes an increasing piece of geopolitical gamesmanship. It has been 75 days since U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Katherine Tai announced that her office was requesting dispute settlement consultations with Mexico centered around energy. Under rules of…

The Biden Administration remains committed to supporting robust levels of LNG exports in support of Europe’s efforts to bolster supplies for winter, according to a report Tuesday.  The continent is moving with haste to reduce its dependence on Russia amid the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine and is consistently calling for U.S. shipments of the super-chilled…

The Biden administration has tacked another 15 GW of floating offshore wind capacity to its clean energy goals, as the American Petroleum Institute (API) inked a preliminary agreement with the Offshore Operators Committee (OOC) to develop safety management systems (SMS).  With “decades of offshore operating experience under highly technical and complex conditions” under its belt,…