Bureau Of Land Management News

The Biden administration said on Tuesday it would take steps to restart the federal oil and gas leasing program in the next week and plans to hold a Gulf of Mexico auction as soon as October, court papers showed.The move comes two months after the U.S Interior Department first said it would comply with a June 15 federal judge's order blocking its months-long pause in oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters.That order was a blow to a key White House effort to address climate change by reining in fossil fuel extraction.U.S.

U.S. presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren said she would ban all fossil fuel extraction on federal land and in coastal waters, setting herself apart from a crowded field of Democratic hopefuls who have made climate change a central campaign issue but have yet to outline specific policies. Warren said in a post on Medium that she would sign an executive order on her first day in office for a "total moratorium on all new fossil fuel leases including for drilling offshore and on public lands." "We must not allow corporations to pillage our public lands and leave taxpayers to clean up the mess…

NOIA President Randall Luthi released the following statement after providing testimony today before the House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources on H.R. “NOIA applauds Congressman Graves and Ranking Member Lowenthal for their bipartisan sponsorship of the Innovation in Offshore Leasing Act and thanks the Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee for holding today’s hearing. “Offshore energy development is a vital part of the U.S. economy, providing jobs, energy security and much needed government revenue. With that in mind, it is imperative that offshore lease sales remain a reliable, safe and transparent process.

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Neil Kornze today testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a bill that would increase the efficiency of oil and gas permitting on public lands and coordination among agencies by continuing the BLM’s Oil and Gas Pilot Office program. During his testimony on S. 2440, the BLM Permit Processing Improvement Act of 2014, Kornze described the key role pilot offices play in supporting the Administration’s All-of-the-Above energy strategy to create jobs and reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. “The Obama Administration has made it a priority to permit environmentally responsible oil and gas development on the nation’s public lands,” Kornze said.

The White House likes to claim a share of the credit for the drilling revolution that has transformed North America's energy production and security. Except the revolution has largely taken place on private rather than public land, and energy producers feel frustrated about the numerous obstacles and long delays in obtaining permission to drill in areas directly controlled by the administration. "Crude oil production has grown each year President Barack Obama has been in office to its highest level in 17 years," the Council of Economic Advisors wrote back in the summer of 2013. "Government-funded research supplemented private industry's work to develop the technology that sparked the boom," the council explained ("Reducing America's dependence on foreign oil", Aug. 29, 2013).

Final Restoration Plan Completed for Cosco Busan Oil Spill; Projects will Address Impacts from Ship that Struck the Bay Bridge. State and federal trustee agencies have released the Cosco Busan Oil Spill Final Damage Assessment and Restoration Plan. The document summarizes the injuries to wildlife, habitat, and recreational uses from the oil spill that occurred on Nov. 7, 2007. It also describes a number of restoration projects that will be implemented to compensate for injuries from the spill.

The Department of the Interior issued a directive to oil and gas lessees and operators on the Outer Continental Shelf implementing stronger safety requirements that Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar recommended in his 30-day safety report to the President. The Notice to Lessees focusing on safety measures (Safety NTL) issued applies to both deepwater and shallow water operations, although drilling operations in water deeper than 500 feet remain under a six-month moratorium. Shallow water drilling operations and production activity in both deep and shallow waters are not under a moratorium and will continue, provided they are in compliance with the new safety requirements.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the Department will hold an oil and natural gas lease sale for the Central Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf that will offer nearly 36 million acres and could produce up to 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 5.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. “As we build a comprehensive energy strategy for our nation, we are moving ahead both with environmentally-responsible renewable energy development on public lands and appropriate oil and natural gas exploration and development onshore and offshore,” said Secretary Salazar. Interior’s Minerals Management Service has proposed that oil and gas Lease Sale 213 for the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area be held March 17, 2010.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar appointed Liz Birnbaum, an attorney with two decades of federal government and private sector experience in energy and environmental policy, as Director of the Department’s Minerals Management Service. The appointment does not require Senate confirmation. As Director of the Minerals Management Service, Birnbaum administers programs that ensure the effective management of renewable and traditional energy and mineral resources on the nation’s Outer Continental Shelf, including the environmentally safe exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas, and the collection and distribution of revenues for minerals developed on federal and American Indian lands.