"A “de facto moratorium” on offshore oil and gas leasing is taking hold over the next several months while the Biden administration considers its options for a proposed five-year leasing plan for the Gulf of Mexico, an oil and gas industry attorney said.
But the industry has little legal recourse because the remedy would be for a court to order the Interior Department to do what it’s already doing—take steps to finalize the new five-year plan, said Jason Hill, counsel at Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP in Houston, who represents industry clients.
Interior is proposing as many as 11 lease sales over the next five years, according to the draft plan made public late July 1. They include 10 in the Gulf of Mexico and one in the Cook Inlet off the Alaskan coast. The plan also includes an option to conduct no lease sales.
The proposal signals the agency is “confirming that they’re not planning on having any lease sales this year,” Hill said."
Bobby Magill reports for Bloomberg Environment July 6, 2022.
Advertisement 
