BATON ROUGE, LA (November 15, 2021) – On Wednesday, November 17th, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold Lease Sale 257, the first federal land leasing event of the year.
In the early days of his presidency, President Biden signed an executive order that banned new federal leasing permits for drilling. On June 15th, after months of legal battles led by Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty granted a preliminary injunction that temporarily reversed the moratorium while litigation remained in progress.
In response to the upcoming lease sale, Louisiana Oil & Gas Association President Mike Moncla released a statement earlier this afternoon:
"On behalf of the Louisiana Oil & Gas Association, I want to thank Attorney General Jeff Landry for his strong, capable leadership that helped make this lease sale possible.
While the oil and gas industry focuses on creating jobs and fostering economic investment in Louisiana, President Biden and the Democrats continue to promote harmful regulations that hurt American families.
This lease sale is an important victory, not only for the 250,000+ oil and gas workers in the state but for every American who is facing high energy costs as a result of our diminished oil and gas supply.
We look forward to working with Attorney General Landry as we continue our opposition to the Biden administration’s failed energy policies that undermine our nation's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
BOEM will begin publicly reading the lease bids at 9:00 AM at their office in New Orleans.
At the same time, Attorney General Landry will be holding a press conference outside of the BOEM building to discuss the lease sale and the ongoing litigation over the moratorium.
