The administration's proposal seeks to strike a balance between energy companies seeking greater oil and gas production and environmental activists who want Biden to shut down new offshore drilling.
This April 10, 2011, file photo, shows a rig and supply vessel in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. The Biden administration has proposed up to three oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico over the next five years.This April 10, 2011, file photo, shows a rig and supply vessel in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. The Biden administration has proposed up to three oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico over the next five years.
The provision tying offshore wind to oil and gas production was added by Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a top recipient of oil and gas donations and a key vote in favor of the climate law, which was approved with only Democratic votes in the House and the Senate. The landmark law, the Inflation Reduction Act, was signed by Biden as a key step to fight climate change but includes a number of provisions authored by Manchin, a centrist who represents an energy-producing state.
The sales would increase climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a 300-page environmental review by the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. How much they will increase is uncertain because the review considered five or 10 new sales but not the three sales proposed.
Still, the plan allows drillers such as Chevron, BP and ExxonMobil to participate in as many as three oil and gas auctions over the next five years, a top priority for the industry that could lock in decades of offshore oil and gas production. Interior Deputy Secretary Tommy Beaudreau appeared to acknowledge the contradiction on Thursday, telling a Senate hearing the administration's options were limited by the climate law.
Two or more sales have been held most years over the past several decades under the federal offshore leasing program, which was established in the 1950s. While Friday's decision means fewer sales, it will take years for that to impact oil production because companies can take up to 15 years to start drilling once a lease is awarded, said energy analyst Rene Santos, of S&P Global Commodity Insights.
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