The Biden administration moved this week to resume the process of leasing oil and gas tracts in the Gulf of Mexico and onshore in the United States in the wake of a federal judge’s preliminary injunction against a Jan. 27 executive order.
The Interior Department said Tuesday that although the administration would restart the lease process, it has also appealed the decision by Judge Terry Doughty of the Western District of Louisiana in the case of Louisiana v. Biden.
The administration’s decision also comes after a number of petroleum trade associations, including the American Petroleum Institute (API) and associations with members outside of Louisiana, filed a similar lawsuit in the same federal district court. That Aug. 16 filing accuses the administration of imposing an express or de facto ban on oil and gas leases in federal jurisdictions in violation of numerous federal laws.
“In establishing the leasing moratorium, defendants abrogated applicable federal law that compels defendants to regularly hold lease sales, engage the public in decisions involving federal oil and gas leasing, provide reasoned explanations for policy changes and assess impacts to the human environment before they act,” the complaint states.
API and the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association (LOGA) reacted positively to the administration’s response, although litigation over the president’s oil and gas policies is proceeding.
“We are encouraged by the Interior Department’s announcement that they intend to follow the court’s order and resume federal oil and natural gas leasing,” API’s vice president of upstream policy, Kevin O’Scannlain, said in a statement emailed to the Louisiana Record, “and we look forward to hearing more details on the administration’s plans.”
The Interior Department still must follow through on its words and move quickly to stop what API describes as an indefinite leasing pause, according to O’Scannlain.
“While LOGA welcomes the decision by the Biden administration to temporarily resume leasing on federal land, it is important to note that the litigation process is far from over,” a LOGA statement emailed to the Record says. “This administration has been nothing but hostile to the American energy sector, both with its policies and disparaging rhetoric.”
The preliminary injunction issued in June against the Biden executive order illustrates the frailty of the administration’s legal arguments, according to LOGA.
“We look forward to this issue being settled in federal court so that the oil and gas industry can help this nation's economy recover from the COVID-19 pandemic," the LOGA statement said.
LOGA is not a party to the API lawsuit, but the association regularly works with API on the oil and gas moratorium and other issues affecting Louisiana, according to LOGA.
“LOGA's expertise is related to state regulatory issues and litigation, but we offer support to any entity that works to protect energy jobs in this country,” the statement said.