BATON ROUGE, LA (September 29, 2023) - Today, the U.S. Department of Interior released the next Five-Year Plan for federal offshore oil and gas leasing. LOGA President Mike Moncla issued the following statement in response.
“As predictable as it is, it is still disappointing to see that the Biden administration’s war on the oil and gas industry rages on.
The Inflation Reduction Act promised us anywhere from zero to eleven offshore lease sales.
Now, they’re only committing to three for the next five years. This will curtail discoveries for years to come.
Adding to that, BOEM implemented another hurdle in the Programmatic Environmental Impact Study that is sure to add future delays.
Every other administration prior to this one had Five-Year Plans that enabled uninterrupted leasing activities.
This action will negatively impact Louisiana jobs and diminish GOMESA funds that are rebuilding our coast. The Gulf of Mexico provides 15% of our nation’s oil. These attempts to slow, or halt offshore production hurts all Americans at the pump, and makes us more dependent on foreign oil.
The reality is that worldwide demand for oil and gas is at record levels and our products will continue to be necessary for decades to come."
