Laissez les bons temps rouler: US President Joe Biden continues to burnish his oil and gas credentials at the expense of environmentalists and trading partners after the Bureau of Land Management (BOEM) raked in $263.8 million from the sale of offshore drilling rights in New Orleans this week..In a statement, the BOEM said 32 companies bid up 313 tracts covering 1.6 million acres in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico offshore from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. It was barely a fraction of the more than 13,600 blocks covering 73 million acres in an area the size of Italy that were on offer, however..It was the first sale since 2021 and the largest amount paid since 2017, BOEM said in a release. In a throw out to Biden — who continues to lease federal land despite campaigning on a promise not to — “leases resulting from this sale will include stipulations to mitigate potential adverse effects on protected species and to avoid potential conflicts with other ocean uses in the region.”.To his credit, the sale was actually mandated by Congress as a condition of Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) which was passed in October of last year. The IRA further stipulated an environmental impact statement for the Cook Inlet in Alaska after Biden cancelled a pending sales last May..It was a concession to Democrat Joe Manchin to get the bill passed. Manchin, who is also chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee praised the sale result and issued the following statement:.“I am glad to see the administration carrying out this mandated Gulf oil and gas lease sale that I included in the Inflation Reduction Act. This record lease sale is further evidence that the IRA is holding this administration’s feet to the fire to continue the fossil fuel production we need.". US Senator Joe ManchinUS Senator Joe Manchin ."The federal government is charged with ensuring the United States is responsibly developing and utilizing all of our energy resources, and to do that it’s critical that we get our federal leasing programs back on track. As the superpower of the world, it is vital that we have a reliable, domestic energy supply chain that enhances our energy security, reduces our reliance on foreign nations and helps our friends and allies. We don’t have to choose between energy security and the environment — our offshore production is among the cleanest in the world, and continuing to support this production will ensure America continues to be a global energy leader.” .That auction hasn’t been rescheduled but under terms of the IRA it will be held before the end of this year. Instead, Biden approved the $8 billion Willow project on Alaska’s North Slope over protests from environmental groups..In the past, the BOEM’s regular land sales were notoriously lavish affairs held near Bourbon Street, featuring plenty of food and free flowing booze until Biden and the pandemic essentially shut them down..It could be the last for a while, however, after the final sale under its present five-year fiscal plan later this September. According to the Interior Department’s proposed budget, the next lease sale after that isn’t scheduled until 2028.
