In a launch despatched to Rigzone just lately, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Vitality Administration (BOEM) introduced the “subsequent steps” for the Gulf of Mexico oil and gasoline leasing program.
BOEM highlighted the provision of the GOM Regional Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gasoline Lease Gross sales Draft Programmatic Environmental Influence Assertion (EIS) in its launch and revealed that it’s searching for public feedback on the assertion.
This programmatic EIS is predicted to tell the choice for the primary GOM oil and gasoline lease sale proposed within the leasing program, BOEM acknowledged in its launch, including that it’s also anticipated for use and supplemented as acceptable for selections on future proposed GOM lease gross sales.
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BOEM highlighted in its launch that the programmatic EIS would even be used to assist post-lease web site and activity-specific OCS oil and gasoline associated analyses and approvals. The group stated it can make the ultimate programmatic EIS obtainable to the general public a minimum of 30 days previous to the issuance of any determination.
Commenting on BOEM’s launch, Scott Lauermann, an American Petroleum Institute (API) spokesperson, informed Rigzone that the group is reviewing the draft EIS and that it “look[s] ahead to working with BOEM to make sure that a strong 2025 sale occurs on schedule to carry the advantages offshore oil and pure gasoline manufacturing brings to america by jobs, funding, and home vitality safety”.
In a separate assertion commenting on the BOEM launch, which was despatched to Rigzone this week, Nationwide Ocean Industries Affiliation (NOIA) President Erik Milito stated, “we’re happy to see BOEM lastly shifting ahead with the subsequent step towards the primary Gulf of Mexico oil and gasoline lease sale of the 2024-2029 offshore leasing program”.
“This isn’t nearly securing a lease sale in 2025; it’s about affirming the Gulf’s pivotal position in bolstering our vitality safety, driving financial development, and enhancing our geopolitical power,” he added.
“Whereas this development is welcome, we imagine this course of ought to have been initiated concurrently with the event of the total 2024-2029 leasing program to keep away from delays in oil and gasoline leasing actions,” he went on to say.
Within the assertion, Milito famous that the Gulf of Mexico is extra than simply an vitality supply.
“It’s a cornerstone of financial stability, vitality innovation, job creation, and environmental stewardship,” he stated.
“The Gulf of Mexico oil and gasoline program shines as the first funding mechanism for conservation and recreation efforts, together with funding for our treasured nationwide parks,” he added.
“As we sit up for this lease sale, NOIA stresses the significance of maximizing obtainable acreage. The Gulf’s strategic worth lies in its capability to ship vitality effectively, assist 1000’s of American jobs, and supply a pathway to decrease carbon vitality options on a worldwide scale,” he continued.
Milito stated within the assertion that oil manufacturing from the Gulf of Mexico is acknowledged by numerous impartial research to be among the many lowest-carbon intensive barrels on the earth.
“It’s clearly higher to provide our vitality from the Gulf of Mexico than for the worldwide market to depend upon overseas sources with increased emissions and weaker environmental efficiency,” he added.
“Moreover, we urge Congress and the incoming administration to reassess the restricted schedule of solely three lease gross sales within the present offshore program and take steps to revive our leasing program to bolster funding in U.S. tasks,” he continued.
“A extra strong schedule would higher mirror the Gulf’s indispensable position in our vitality panorama and assist each vitality growth and environmental stewardship,” he stated.
“NOIA is dedicated to working with all stakeholders to advocate for insurance policies that uphold the Gulf of Mexico as a key pillar in vitality safety, financial progress, and whole U.S. vitality management,” Milito went on to state.
Rigzone contacted BOEM, the U.S. Division of the Inside (DOI), and the Trump transition group for touch upon Lauermann and Milito’s statements. BOEM and the DOI declined to remark. The Trump transition group has not but responded to Rigzone’s request on the time of writing.
In an announcement posted on its web site on December 15, 2023, the DOI introduced that it had revealed the ultimate 2024–2029 Nationwide Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gasoline Leasing Program “with the fewest oil and gasoline lease gross sales in historical past”. This system schedules three oil and gasoline lease gross sales within the Gulf of Mexico Program Space in 2025, 2027, and 2029, that assertion highlighted.
“This system balances the nation’s vitality safety and local weather targets whereas additionally figuring out the fewest oil and gasoline lease gross sales for a five-year program in historical past,” BOEM stated within the launch despatched to Rigzone just lately, noting that it doesn’t embrace any lease gross sales in Atlantic, Pacific, and Alaskan waters.
“The Inflation Discount Act prohibits BOEM from issuing a lease for offshore wind growth until the company has provided a minimum of 60 million acres for oil and gasoline leasing on the OCS within the earlier 12 months,” BOEM added within the launch.
“This considerably diminished variety of oil and gasoline lease gross sales from previous leasing applications will allow america to fulfill its vitality wants and proceed the speedy and accelerating transition to wash vitality,” it continued.
BOEM famous in its launch that Part 18 of the OCS Lands Act “authorizes the Secretary of the Inside to ascertain a schedule of lease gross sales for a five-year interval by balancing particular components of OCS areas and deciding on the scale, timing, and site of OCS lease gross sales that finest meet regional and nationwide vitality wants and considers the impression of oil and gasoline exploration on the marine, coastal, and human environments”.
To contact the creator, e-mail andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
