The Biden administration on Friday released plans to hold three auctions of offshore drilling rights over the next five years, part of what it pitched as an effort to phase out oil leasing in favor of energy clean
The lease program sees sales of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases in 2025, 2027 and 2029, the fewest since the government began planning auctions in five-year blocks. The level was carefully calibrated to maintain offshore wind development, as last year’s climate law ties the fate of these renewable projects to the sale of oil leases.
“These three proposed lease sales are the minimum number that will allow the Department of the Interior to continue expanding its offshore wind leasing program through 2030,” the agency said in a statement.
The auction schedule, focused solely on the Gulf, represents President Joe Biden’s latest attempt to balance competing climate and energy priorities while navigating within the confines of federal laws meant to promote fossil fuels.
During the campaign, Biden promised to tackle climate change and ban new oil and gas permits on public lands and waters.
But a 1953 law requires the government to prepare and maintain an offshore oil and gas leasing program determined to “best meet the national energy needs for five years after” its development, reflecting the affected states, the environmental sensitivity of the region and the potential interest of the company. .
Last year’s climate law went further, blocking the Interior Department from issuing new offshore wind leases unless it had an oil lease sale with at least 60 million acres up for grabs a year previous
Many environmentalists argued that even an offshore oil auction is too much, incompatible with the need to urgently decarbonize and avoid the worst consequences of climate change by limiting global warming to no more than 1.5ºC. And they insisted that offshore wind targets would not deviate from the target.
The US government has already issued nearly 35 commercial wind leases in federal waters, enough to meet the Biden administration’s goal of deploying 30 gigawatts of capacity, the environmental group Earthjustice said in a information sheet
The oil lease plan “represents a crucial missed opportunity to minimize future oil and gas drilling,” said the group’s president, Abigail Dillen. “We are too far along in the climate crisis to commit to decades of fossil fuel extraction, especially after the hottest summer on record.”
At the same time, oil industry leaders and their advocates on Capitol Hill have said more auctions are needed to maintain production in the Gulf of Mexico, which now provides about 15 percent of U.S. crude output. Because it can take years for companies to find and obtain crude from newly sold leases, and some never produce a drop, renting now helps sustain production for decades to come.
Rising oil prices, which are heading toward $100 a barrel, only underscore the need for sustained development, industry advocates said.
“This restrictive offshore leasing program is the latest tactic in a coordinated strategy to reduce energy production, ultimately weakening America’s energy dominance, limiting consumers’ access to reliable and affordable energy, and compromising our ability to lead on the global stage,” said Mike Sommers, president of the American Petroleum Institute. “For decades, we’ve strived for energy security, and this administration keeps trying to give it away.”
The five-year program is a legally binding precursor to leasing offshore waters for oil development. The plan is now subject to a 60-day waiting period before it can be formally approved, giving Congress time to step in and advance legislation seeking changes.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said the schedule reflects a commitment by the Biden administration “to build a clean energy future that ensures America’s energy independence.”
“The proposed program, which represents the smallest number of oil and gas lease sales in history, sets a course for the department to support the growing offshore wind industry and protect against the potential for environmental damage and adverse impacts to coastal communities,” Haaland said. in a press release.
The pace of biennial oil lease sales represents a big change from the recent approach, with parcels in the Gulf typically sold twice a year. The government is still on track to auction off oil leases on about 73 million acres in the Gulf before Nov. 8, in a sale first scheduled by President Barack Obama and later ordered by the Oil Reduction Act. inflation
Biden’s Interior Department last year proposed up to 11 sales, with 10 in the Gulf and one in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, matching the number in the previous Obama program. That’s a marked reduction from the 47 potential sales under President Donald Trump outlined in an earlier draft of the program, with territory earmarked for nearly every coast.
