Biden Administration Must Accelerate Offshore Oil and Gas Program Development
Biden Administration Must Accelerate Offshore Oil and Gas Program Development, Ensure Continued Region-Wide Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales
Washington, D.C. – National Ocean Industries Association President Erik Milito issued the following statement after Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland announced during today’s Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee hearing that the Biden Administration would publish the Proposed Program for the next Five Year Program for offshore oil and gas leasing by June 30th: “Interior has had 16 months to fulfill its statutory obligation to develop and maintain an offshore oil and gas leasing program and it has failed. No other administration has failed in this way. Until now, every administration, whether Democrat or Republican, has recognized the critical, strategic advantages of continued U.S. offshore oil and gas production that are achieved through an uninterrupted national leasing program. The intentional obstruction and delays in U.S. energy development that we are now witnessing have devastating consequences for Americans at the gas pump, our national security, global geopolitics, our near- and long-term energy security, and high-paying jobs across the country. “The ecosystem of companies, small and large, that team up to produce low carbon barrels of oil from the Gulf of Mexico for the benefit of American consumers are the same companies that are innovating the solutions for addressing the climate challenge. We need energy policy that is grounded in reality; that means we need policies that promote zero and low carbon energy and the development of oil and gas supplies here at home.”
About the Proposed ProgramThe Proposed Program is the second of three lengthy phases of the development of a final leasing program. There will be a 90 day comment period on the Proposed Program, up to a 90 day comment period on the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, and a 60 day Congressional review period for the Proposed Final Program, along with the time it takes for the requisite work to finalize the program and environmental review. To see the development timeline for a Five Year Program, individual lease sales, and offshore exploration, development, and production click here.
The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) represents and advances a dynamic and growing offshore energy industry, providing solutions that support communities and protect our workers, the public and our environment.
