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US agencies continue to work on fossil fuels during shutdown

According to the Interior Department's contingency plan published on Wednesday, some government employees will remain on duty during the shutdown to process oil, gas, and coal leases on public lands.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management posted a plan that stated the goal of maintaining workers in these areas was to address the national energy crisis declared by President Donald Trump when he assumed office in January.

BLM's shutdown plan for 2023 did not exclude energy leasing or permitting.

The plan stated that "in order to protect life and property of the federal government and to address the National Energy Emergency," BLM employees responsible for processing coal energy leases and oil and gas permits/leases and other energy and minerals necessary for energy production would be excluded or excused on demand, to the extent necessary to protect life and property.

It wasn't immediately clear if the Utah coal lease auction scheduled for Wednesday would go ahead. No officials from the Interior Department or BLM were available to comment. The BLM allows energy development on the 245,000,000 acres of federal land it manages.

In its contingency plans, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), which supervises energy development on federal waters, stated that renewable energy would cease, but oil-and-gas work would continue, albeit in a limited manner.

BOEM announced that some exempt employees would continue to work on projects such as the Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale scheduled for December and the development of the next oil and natural gas leasing plan for the United States.

Energy Information Administration of the Department of Energy, on the other hand, announced on Wednesday that its weekly petroleum inventories - which heavily influence oil markets – would continue to publish on schedule.

The Antideficiency Act prohibits federal agencies from spending taxpayer money without an appropriation from Congress, unless it is necessary to protect life or property. (Reporting and Editing by Bill Berkrot.)

(source: Reuters)