Federal Lands

As the U.S. Congress nears the Oct. 1 deadline to agree on spending legislation, some oil and natural gas industry representatives fear a federal government shutdown would have serious implications for leasing.  Congress has until midnight on Saturday to approve a package of 12 bills needed to fund the government. Eight Republican lawmakers have repeatedly…

The American Petroleum Institute (API) along with 13 energy trade associations have requested the Biden administration develop “fair and consistent federal leasing regulations” for onshore natural gas and oil development. Comments were submitted to the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM). “Our nation and the world will continue to need reliable, affordable…

A federal court has rejected an appeal by the American Petroleum Institute (API) of a 2016 rule that steepened royalty payments for natural gas and oil produced on federal property. The role of natural gas index pricing in determining those royalty obligations featured prominently in the complaint, which the oil and gas trade group filed…

The Biden administration’s pause in conducting oil and natural gas lease sales on federal land is drawing more legal challenges, as plaintiffs argue that the lack of third quarter auctions was illegal. The Petroleum Association of Wyoming (PAW) and the Western Energy Alliance (WEA) this week filed a lawsuit against the Department of Interior (DOI)…

The Biden administration aims to substantially curb new oil and natural gas drilling on public lands as it attempts to combat climate change and emphasize renewable fuels. The White House said it would resume selling leases to drill for oil and gas on federal lands, though the number of acres available declined dramatically and it…

A federal judge on Wednesday voided Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approval of ConocoPhillips’ massive Willow development envisaged for Alaska’s North Slope, citing a failure by BLM to analyze the project’s downstream greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In a written ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason of the District of Alaska said the environmental impact…

The Biden administration said it would resume oil and gas lease sales on federal lands and waters in order to comply with a court ruling. However, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) said late Monday it is simultaneously appealing the Louisiana-based court’s decision, and if it wins on appeal, it could again suspend leasing…

A consortium of oil and gas industry groups said Monday they had sued the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to reverse its decision this year to indefinitely freeze oil and natural gas leasing on federal lands and waters. In the lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, the…

Leading U.S. oil and gas trade group American Petroleum Institute (API) on Thursday urged the Biden administration to fully reinstate leasing on federal property, warning of environmental and economic impacts under a long-term ban. Biden has paused via executive order (EO) the awarding of new leases amid a comprehensive review of the Interior Department (DOI)…