Feds Offering 80% Less in Oil & Natural Gas Lease Sales, Increasing Royalty Rate
The U.S. Department of Interior announced it is making only 20% of eligible acreage for oil and natural gas production available for leasing on federal lands to comply with a federal court order.
In his first week in office, President Joe Biden issued an executive order directing new oil and natural gas leases on public lands and waters to be halted by the Interior Department. The agency was also tasked to review existing permits for fossil fuel development.
The administration was sued and last June, a federal judge in Louisiana struck down the executive order. Issuing lease sales, the agency said, was “in compliance with an injunction from the Western District of Louisiana.”
The sales would focus on the “highest and best use of America’s public lands, reflecting an 80 percent reduction from nominated acreage” and “reflects the balanced approach to energy development and management of our nation’s public lands,” the agency said in a news release.
On Friday, the Bureau of Land M