Leases

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.…

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.…

A U.S. district court on Thursday vacated the results from last November’s oil and natural gas auction in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), citing an outdated emissions analysis by the Trump administration. In the ruling, considered a major victory for environmental groups, U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras of the District of Columbia invalidated Lease Sale…

The federal oil and gas auction held last month for tracts in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is being challenged by activist groups that are seeking “any and all communications” regarding the sale since President Biden took office in January. Lease Sale 257, the eighth offshore auction and first in a year, was overseen last…

The Biden administration said it would continue to review the “deficiencies” in the federal oil and gas leasing programs, but to comply with a court order, it is holding a Gulf of Mexico (GOM) sale in November. Shortly after taking office in January, President Biden ordered a review of the federal oil and gas leasing…

The U.S. government confirmed in a court filing it would resume federal oil and gas lease sales — and established a timeline — to comply with a ruling that called for an end to the Biden administration’s moratorium. Critics, however, noted that Biden administration officials intend to stretch the process out over several months as…

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…

Federal authorities must apply more scrutiny to potential impacts on greater sage grouse across hundreds of oil and natural gas leases in Wyoming and Montana before authorizing new drilling, a federal judge in Idaho has ruled. Magistrate Judge Ronald Bush ruled that the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), under former President Trump, failed…

Federal onshore oil and gas leases awarded through competitive auctions have generated substantially higher production volumes and government revenues in recent years than noncompetitive federal leases, according to new analysis by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Lease sales are conducted by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), either via auction…