The Biden administration suspended new leasing for fossil fuel production on federal lands and waters in what the Houston Chronicle said “could be a major blow to Texas’ oil industry.” Scott de la Vega, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior, signed an order Jan. 20 telling staff not to issue any onshore or offshore fossil fuel authorization for 60 days without clearance from Biden appointees, who are awaiting confirmation by the Senate. The order, titled “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad Executive Order,” also calls for the interior secretary to launch a “rigorous” review of existing energy leases and permits. Other related events in the first two weeks of the Biden administration:
- Bloomberg reported the Biden administration issued 31 new drilling permits in its first two weeks – 22 permits offshore to BP Exploration and Production, Arena, Shell and a BHP Billiton subsidiary and 9 permits onshore in New Mexico, Montana and Wyoming to Jonah Energy, Burlington Resources and Legacy Reserves. The agency said the order, which expires March 20, does not equate to a drilling permit freeze and does not apply to tribal lands. Permits for valid existing leases “are continuing to be reviewed and approved.”
- Four Texas Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives stated their opposition to Biden’s order. Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen, Henry Cuellar of Laredo, Lizzie Pannill Fletcher of Houston and Marc Veasey of Fort Worth urged Biden in a letter to rescind the “far reaching” order.
- Texas Republicans in Congress, in a press conference Feb. 2 at Enterprise Products Partners on the Houston Ship Channel, also voiced their opposition to Biden’s order. Rep. Kevin Brady said, “Biden is launching an attack on our nation’s oil and gas workers, including hundreds of thousands here in Texas. That’s why today I’m joining my Republican colleagues in Houston to stand up for our workers.” Mike Sommers of American Petroleum Institute added, “Our biggest concern is that we believe the administration is leading us towards more reliance on foreign energy from countries with lower environmental standards.”
- Reuters said the ban on new oil and gas drilling on federal lands will take years to shut production from top shale drillers “because they have stockpiled permits.” The companies that control half the federal supply onshore in the lower 48 states – including Devon, EOG, ExxonMobil, Occidental and ConocoPhillips – already have leases and permits that could last years. Reuters said smaller independent oil drillers without resources of big corporations were more worried about Biden’s promise to toughen regulations and stop issuing new permits on federal lands.
- Gov. Greg Abbott said Jan. 28 in Odessa he will fight Biden’s order that he claimed will undercut Texas energy production. “When it comes to threats to your jobs,” he said, “you have a governor who has your back. Texas will protect the oil and gas industry from any type of hostile attack from Washington.” Abbott, who sued the federal government 31 times as the state’s attorney general, authorized state agencies to bring legal challenges to Biden’s policies.
- Western Energy Alliance, which said it represents 200 oil and gas companies, said Jan. 27 it filed a lawsuit challenging Biden’s order. “Presidents don’t have authority to ban leasing on public lands,” Alliance president Kathleen Sgamma said. The Alliance said the president’s order is a violation of the Mineral Leasing Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and Federal Lands Policy and Management Act.
- Associated Press said the two U.S. senators from New Mexico, Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan, support the Biden administration, but Ryan Flynn of New Mexico Oil and Gas Association and Rep. Yvette Herrell criticized the actions.