The U.S. Department of Interior’s (DOI) reauthorization of its five-year National Outer Continental Shelf Oil & Gas Leasing Program is months overdue and feared lost at sea—a sea that is of regulatory deceit, claim Congressional Republicans and some Democrats.
The update to the 2017-22 federal offshore leasing program was required by statute in June 2022. But the DOI, citing pending litigation, missed the deadline.
In March, the DOI said its final reauthorization will be ready in September, with implementation likely in December after a 60-day public comment-and-review period. There were nearly 800,000 comments already lodged in April.
Until then, there is no system in place to orchestrate oil/gas lease sales in U.S. waters. Even once reauthorized after what will likely be an 18-month suspension, it could take another 18 months of permitting and environmental reviews before leases secured under the new program can be worked….