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US settles big reforms to federal oil and gas drilling

President Joe Biden's administration on Friday settled a. series of reforms created to improve returns and address. environmental harms from oil and gas drilling on public lands.

The new guidelines follow years of criticism from green and. taxpayer groups that federal oil and gas development was not. benefiting the public. A number of the changes formalize arrangements. in Biden's landmark environment change law, the 2022 Inflation. Reduction Act (INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNT).

Under the new policy, oil and gas business will pay higher. bonding rates to cover the cost of plugging deserted oil and. gas wells as well as increased lease rents, minimum auction bids. and royalty rates for the fuels they extract. The guidelines also. limit drilling in delicate wildlife and cultural areas.

These are the most significant reforms to the federal oil. and gas leasing program in years, and the will cut inefficient. speculation, boost returns for the general public, and protect. taxpayers from being saddled with the costs of ecological. clean-ups, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland stated in a declaration.

About 10% of the country's oil and gas comes from drilling on. federally owned land. An oil and gas market trade group alerted. that higher expenses to extract fuels from federal lands could. increase U.S. reliance on foreign supplies.

Extremely difficult land management policies will put this. critical energy supply at threat, American Petroleum Institute. Vice President of Upstream Policy Holly Hopkins said in a. declaration.

Biden swore during his 2020 election campaign to end federal. oil and gas leasing as part of his agenda to fight climate. modification. But the individual retirement account effectively guaranteed continued drilling. rights auctions on federal lands for a minimum of another decade as. a concession to the effective fossil fuel lobby.

Drillers are required to pay upfront bonds to cover future. clean-ups if they stop working, and a 2019 government analysis found. bonding levels were inadequate.

Minimum lease bonds will soar to $150,000 under the brand-new. rules from $10,000-- a level unchanged because 1960.

Royalty rates will rise to 16.67% from 12.5%, and the. minimum quantity companies can bid at oil and gas auctions will. boost to $10 an acre from $2. The rental rate for a 10-year. lease will double to $3 an acre for the very first two years,. ultimately increasing to $15 per acre in the final years. The charges. can be changed for inflation after ten years.

(source: Reuters)