Biden Maladministration Lies Again: Draft Offshore Leasing Plan Not Delivered as Promised

Guest “Biden is the Quicker-Fracker-Upper” by David Middleton

June 30, 2022

Biden administration offshore drilling plan delayed
By Jarrett Renshaw and Nichola Groom

June 30 (Reuters) – The Biden administration on Thursday delayed the rollout of a proposed five-year offshore oil and gas development plan that had been promised by the end of the month, according to sources.

Interior Department Secretary Deb Haaland in May had vowed to unveil the draft proposal ahead of the June 30 expiration of the current plan. The department will not be able to hold any offshore oil and gas lease sales until a new plan is finalized.

Briefings with officials meant to take place Thursday ahead of a public announcement were unexpectedly delayed, according to sources. The reason and length of the delay were unclear.

Interior would not comment.

[…]

Reuters

They have had 18 months to get this done. They don’t appear to even be making a serious effort to issue a new leasing plan, even though they are legally required to do so.

Why does this matter?

In the Gulf of Mexico, Biden Is Picking Politics Over Policy
By Erik Milito
June 29, 2022

The Biden administration has cast a troubling cloud over the energy outlook for the Gulf of Mexico. New oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico have been halted at a time when oil prices have soared by nearly 200 percent and Putin’s unprovoked invasion has unsettled global energy security. The deliberate delay and obstruction of U.S. energy development is needlessly harming everyday Americans and our allies.

While the White House seeks to blame energy producers for high energy prices, companies have not been able to secure new offshore oil and gas leases since November 2020. This year will be the first year without an offshore lease sale since 1965 – when Lyndon Johnson was president and Bonanza topped national TV ratingsWithout new leasing, companies cannot replenish exploration portfolios, which is critical as most leases do not contain commercially viable amounts of oil or natural gas. The greater number of lease sales and the higher the amount of acreage, the greater the opportunity for U.S. oil and gas production. To put it another way, fewer oil and gas leases means less oil and gas production.

While the Gulf of Mexico sits locked away from leasing, President Biden is planning a trip to Saudi Arabia and the Kingdom’s oil production will certainly be on the agenda. The U.S. has eased sanctions with Venezuela and continues to try to salvage its nuclear deal with Iran.

Instead of working with foreign regimes to secure additional supplies, the President should promote investment and new opportunities for increased oil production in our own backyard.

In order for the government to be able to lease offshore acreage for oil and gas production, the government is required to have a leasing program in place. On June 30th, the current leasing program for offshore oil and gas leasing expires and there will not be a new one in place for some time.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland recently said the Proposed Program for the next leasing program will be out before June 30th.

[…]

Prior to this point, every administration – whether they were Republican or Democrat – has fulfilled their legal obligation to maintain a leasing program and hold lease sales. Every prior administration has recognized the critical strategic advantages of an uninterrupted leasing program.

The delay in the leasing program could reduce American energy production by 500,000 barrels of oil per day – roughly what the U.S. was importing from Russia in 2020. Furthermore, 60,000 high paying and accessible jobs could disappear through substantial gap in the offshore leasing program.

[…]

Erik Milito is the president of the National Ocean Industries Association. 

Real Clear Energy

Technically, there was a lease sale in 1965; however no leases were nominated for bids. Prior to the first area-wide sale in 1983, oil companies had to nominate leases that they wanted to bid on. Since 1983 the bids have been confidential. The corrupt Obama judge Rudy Contreras effectively reinstated the nomination process when he unlawfully vacated Lease Sale 257.

Industry, states argue on appeal for oil and gas lease sale
June 23, 2022
Oil and gas companies and 15 states have made their arguments for an appeals court to overturn a federal court ruling so that an oil and gas lease sale for tracts in the US Gulf of Mexico can be completed.
Alan Kovski

Oil and gas companies and 15 states have made their arguments for an appeals court to overturn a federal court ruling so that an oil and gas lease sale for tracts in the US Gulf of Mexico can be completed.

The case, in the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, stems from a federal district court decision Jan. 27 that not only required more environmental analysis for lease sale 257 but vacated the sale, which was held in November (OGJ Online, Jan. 28, 2022).

[…]

In its brief filed June 13 at the appeals court, the American Petroleum Institute (API) cited cases in which the appeals court ruled that no such “speculative” estimate was needed or of any use for a lease sale, and that even if the court insisted on such a calculation, it could be done on remand without vacating the sale.

“The district court upended longstanding precedent holding that the National Environmental Policy Act does not require such speculative assessments at the lease-sale stage,” API said. “It compounded this error by refusing to remand without vacatur.”

The trade group pointed out that Interior can make such calculations when companies submit an exploration plan and when they submit a development and production plan. And at any of those stages Interior can reject the plan or require changes to protect human health and the environment.

[…]

Oil and Gas Journal

In the meantime, the Idiot-in-Chief actually paraphrased Brady Bunch middle-sister Jan in his latest pathetic excuse for his own frack ups…

Biden says he won’t ask Saudi leaders to increase oil production, blames ‘Russia, Russia, Russia’ for prices
Biden says he will not ask Saudi Arabia for increased oil production during his trip despite rising prices

By Brooke Singman | Fox News

President Joe Biden on Thursday said that he will not request Saudi leaders to increase oil production during his trip to Saudi Arabia next month, stressing that is “not the purpose of the trip,” while blaming sky-high gas prices in the United States on “Russia, Russia, Russia.”

[…]

Fox News

Russia, Russia, Russia!

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Ron Long
July 1, 2022 10:11 am

Thanks, David. I saw the news about no leasing and no lease plan going forward and was thinking that can’t be true, because that would be transparently stupid and illegal. What do you know, stupid and illegal is the new order.

Dave Fair
Reply to  Ron Long
July 1, 2022 5:40 pm

Not stupid: Just evil based on ideology.

Rhoda R.
Reply to  David Middleton
July 1, 2022 7:25 pm

No. Biden is stupid (or senile) but his puppet masters are anything but. They want the US to be energy poor. They want the US in a global war with no fuel to fight it. They want a failed US.

They are deliberately evil and quite intelligent about unfolding their plans.

Carlo, Monte
July 1, 2022 10:24 am

Brandon lied?

I am shocked at this news.

July 1, 2022 10:25 am

Ideology trumps common sense which seems in very short supply among the educated populus. I am amazed that thinking carefully and reasoning logically after close observation is no longer central in education. We should vet political candidates on their abilities to do all three and then we would have far few politicians like president Biden.

Reply to  Michael in Dublin
July 1, 2022 1:36 pm

I am a member of the educated populus, and I have common sense. I do think carefully and reason logically, based on close observations, but I am just one guy. If we required that people seeking elective and appointed office demonstrate careful thinking, logical reasoning based on observation, I don’t think we’d have many such folks passing that vetting.

Dave Fair
Reply to  Retired_Engineer_Jim
July 1, 2022 5:44 pm

You’d have to pass a Constitutional Amendment to require those qualifications. Our Founders had higher hopes for the populace. They did say, of course, that a functioning Republic required an informed and engaged populace. They said that without such care the Republic could not survive. As old Ben said: We have a Republic, if you can keep it.

Ron Long
Reply to  Dave Fair
July 1, 2022 6:34 pm

Dave, I agree about the difficulty of setting qualifications for elected office. Remember that Thomas Jefferson tried to get “Landed Gentry” (persons, well, male persons, who owned land) as a requirement for voting. Didn’t work but would have been interesting.

IAMPCBOB
Reply to  Ron Long
July 5, 2022 12:09 pm

Interesting? well, maybe, but consider this; Bill Gates now owns MANY THOUSANDS of acres of good, productive, farmland, for unknown reasons! Would YOU vote for him?

IAMPCBOB
Reply to  Retired_Engineer_Jim
July 5, 2022 12:06 pm

They certainly wouldn’t be Democrats! WOW! Maybe that’s the way to get them OUT of DC?

Derg
July 1, 2022 10:30 am

Has his EPA blocked a pipeline in ND?

I heard they have to ship oil by train which is 2nd only to trucks as the worst method of transportation.

Simon must work in the EPA.

Reply to  Derg
July 1, 2022 12:18 pm

‘Simon must work in the EPA.’

I doubt it. EPA employees may be vicious idealogues, but they’re not stupid.

Reply to  Frank from NoVA
July 1, 2022 1:13 pm

… Animas River … Gold King mine ….

Stupid is as stupid does.

Reply to  DonM
July 1, 2022 2:49 pm

Good point. Certainly the on site folks weren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer, but I’m willing to bet that the ‘mastermind’ that sent them was a green zealot. Besides, who doesn’t like a splash of color in their rivers from time to time.

roaddog
Reply to  Frank from NoVA
July 2, 2022 7:10 am

A couple of tribes downstream were quite displeased.

Reply to  roaddog
July 5, 2022 10:40 am

In the end, they will profit from it.

Rhoda R.
Reply to  Frank from NoVA
July 1, 2022 7:28 pm

Isn’t there a major democrat donor/sponsor who owns most of US rail stock these days.

roaddog
Reply to  Rhoda R.
July 2, 2022 7:11 am

Warren Buffet owns a huge chunk of BNSF. A “Biden Pipeline” looks exactly like a train.

Tom Halla
July 1, 2022 10:41 am

I think the incompetence is actually policy. Satisfying the Keep It In The Ground greens, while not formally doing anything. Thank

Wade
Reply to  Tom Halla
July 1, 2022 1:29 pm

Being competent is actually a disqualification for a job in any government. This administration, in particular, boasts about hiring incompetent people just to meet some politically correct quota.

roaddog
Reply to  Wade
July 2, 2022 7:12 am

Who needs logical thinking when one has the internet?

IAMPCBOB
Reply to  Wade
July 5, 2022 12:12 pm

In fact, being competent is a HUGE disqualification for employment in THIS government! It has been that way for a LONG time, now! TOO long!

Rud Istvan
July 1, 2022 11:12 am

This inevitably happens when Biden nominates a progressive Native American supporter of the GND to secretary of the interior. Haaland had no managerial experience of any sort prior to becoming SecInt.

The fact that it breaks the law doesn’t matter. No different than Mayorkis at DHS treating the southern border crisis.

MarkW
Reply to  Rud Istvan
July 1, 2022 11:20 am

Laws are for the little people. When you are trying to save the planet, you can’t be hampered by such bourgeois concepts such as legality or morality.

IAMPCBOB
Reply to  MarkW
July 5, 2022 12:16 pm

When you are an elitist who KNOWS that YOU are the ultimate authority on everything that YOU want to do, then mere laws and constitutions have no meaning! You, alone, along with your like-minded liberals and Progressives cohorts, know what is best for everyone ELSE!

July 1, 2022 11:19 am

It was clear they were shutting things down, 1 1/2 months ago, at the Senate Energy Committee.

Manchin: “Secretary Haaland, you all just put out a statement, the U.S. Department of Interior just put out a statement, and the statement basically says, ‘A proposed program is not a decision to issue specific leases or to authorize any drilling or development.’ This is from y’all’s office. So it looks like you are gonna shut everything down. Did you know y’all put this out?”

Interior Sec Haaland: “I, I, I, I … I’m sorry, I’m sitting in this hearing, and not ….”

Manchin: “My God … this shuts it down, it shows what your intent is.”

Then they don’t even put forth the ‘proposed plan’ by the promised date; the date promised to the Senate. Haaland LIED TO CONGRESS … ahhhhhhhhh (isn’t this something the Dems get excited about?)

Reply to  David Middleton
July 1, 2022 12:28 pm

Now that she didn’t didn’t even meet her deadline to produce the promised draft (that “is not a decision to issue specific leases or to authorize any drilling or development.”) he, and they, should be even more pissed.

Bring her back, make her bring the preliminary of the draft (as it relates directly to the previous hearing), talk about energy/gas prices, do just enough to call attn to things … leave gaps that the media can fill in by themselves (so they feel smart about themselves to the extent that it overrides their ‘protect biden’ mentality), and hope that the media will play the clips. Suggest (behind the scenes) that maybe the the slant/perspective that Manchin is a swing, and they should stop abusing him would be a viewer attention getter.

John Hultquist
July 1, 2022 11:22 am

Some think the following person is calling the shots that seemingly come from the Oval Office.

Ambassador Susan E. Rice is the Domestic Policy Advisor in the Biden Administration. As Director of the Domestic Policy Council, she drives the formulation and implementation of President Biden’s domestic policy agenda, from economic mobility and racial equity to health care and immigration.
The DPC is staffed by policy experts on a range of issues. They craft and implement policies on everything . . .
Insofar as Bandon seems to have lost the plot, experts unknown to most Americans are ruining the Nation.

H.R.
Reply to  John Hultquist
July 1, 2022 3:04 pm

Experts unknown to Biden were running his campaign, and Biden was sitting with them in his basement. 🙄

July 1, 2022 11:24 am

On behalf of Duane … after I get situated here:

“Dha pbresidfent dovs noft halffv dha bability dhue impafct oil pfricless”.

Reply to  DonM
July 1, 2022 11:24 am

(I hope y’all could understand me … I had my head up my ass)

roaddog
Reply to  DonM
July 2, 2022 7:13 am

And yet, you didn’t fall off your bicycle. Bravo.

ResourceGuy
July 1, 2022 11:33 am
H.R.
Reply to  ResourceGuy
July 1, 2022 3:08 pm

Yah, but… look at all the Green Jobs created… in India.

Green jobs! Promises made. Promises kept, kinda’, sorta’, not exactly.

Dave Fair
Reply to  ResourceGuy
July 1, 2022 5:55 pm

Cliff Notes version: Freely let in foreign solar products that are predatorily priced, but give us tax and other breaks so that our U.S. production can compete.

ResourceGuy
Reply to  Dave Fair
July 2, 2022 7:55 am

The issue is slave labor in western China making half the world’s silicon components for panel assembly.

Don Jindra
July 1, 2022 11:55 am

Delays happen. To call this a lie is not necessarily accurate.

Editor
Reply to  David Middleton
July 1, 2022 12:53 pm

You do write in English, David! Thank you. Otherwise, I’d have trouble comprehending your posts and comments.

Regards,
Bob

MarkW
Reply to  Don Jindra
July 1, 2022 1:21 pm

Maybe it isn’t a lie, though I”m pretty sure it is.
However is most definitely gross incompetence and an extreme dereliction of duty.
She needs to be impeached and someone who is capable of doing the job hired.

Dave Fair
Reply to  David Middleton
July 1, 2022 5:58 pm

Having participated in similar governmental activities, one just copies last year’s document, inking in any changes.

roaddog
Reply to  David Middleton
July 2, 2022 7:16 am

So a reasonably competent admin could have drafted a new plan. Ah, the wonders of diversity.

Reply to  Don Jindra
July 1, 2022 2:53 pm

This year will be the first year without an offshore lease sale since 1965

fewer oil and gas leases means less oil and gas production

These are not coincidences. They are consistent with Biden’s stated promise to “end fossil fuel”. Biden has a long history of lying about…well, just about everything. Why would anyone think this time was the exception?

Biden and his minions have fast-tracked anything that reduces fossil fuel production, starting with canceling pipelines that were already approved. Conversely, they have slow-walked legally required permit processes and pretended that it just takes time, but the real purpose is obvious: to frustrate the oil companies and compel them to go elsewhere for leases, like to other countries.

Reply to  Don Jindra
July 1, 2022 4:47 pm

Don Jindra,

Haaland lied to congress 1 1/2 months ago when she told the Senate Energy Committee that she would produce the draft by June 30th.

It is a draft. A draft.

Take what you have, stamp ‘Draft’ across the top of it, and issue it as a ‘draft’.

It does not matter if it is not complete.

It is a draft.

There is no good reason to hold it longer.

July 1, 2022 12:04 pm

‘Briefings with officials meant to take place Thursday ahead of a public announcement were unexpectedly delayed, according to sources. The reason and length of the delay were unclear.’

Dollars to donuts, the ‘unexpected delay’ (Plan B) occurred because SCOTUS threw up on the EPA (Plan A).



CD in Wisconsin
July 1, 2022 12:10 pm

Illegal immigration at our southern border. Transporting illegals inland. And now failing to roll out this offshore development plan as the law requires. Lord only knows what other laws the Brandon administration is ignoring.

In my mind, it requires considerable arrogance and egotism to believe you are above the law like this. Dictators (Kim Jong Un in North Korea for example) in authoritarian countries think and behave the same way. When politicians begin behaving this way, they should hardly be the ones claiming that democracy in this country is in trouble.

One would think that the American people would wake up to this and stop supporting the Democrats who are manifesting this behavior. But they probably will not.

Old Man Winter
Reply to  CD in Wisconsin
July 1, 2022 1:04 pm

AOC wants to end the filibuster for EPA legislation but Sinema & Manchin say no.

https://nypost.com/2022/06/30/aoc-calls-to-reform-or-do-away-with-filibuster-after-scotus-epa-decision/

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) is the first Dimbulb to say anything rational about immigration. His
district runs from McAllen, then 200 mi NW along the Rio Grande.

“My position has been that, in this case, if you have them remain in Mexico and they have access to an attorney they want to come and present their case and they’re in a safe situation, then we ought to do that. Because otherwise, you have so many people that come in — come into the United States. And a lot of them are given false hope because if you have a hundred people, only 10-12% are going to be given asylum. … So, why are we letting 100% when we should be allowing only 10% to 12% of those people to come into the United States?”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2022/07/01/cuellar-asylum-seekers-should-remain-in-mexico-only-10-12-who-get-asylum-should-be-allowed-in/

MarkW
Reply to  Old Man Winter
July 1, 2022 1:26 pm

Also, all of them are released into the general population while their cases are heard and decided. They promise that they will show up when it’s time for them to be deported if they don’t get asylum. Few if any of them actually do show up and nobody in this administration is interested in looking for them.

Dave Fair
Reply to  MarkW
July 1, 2022 6:03 pm

I believe the Leftist ploy is to stonewall deportations such that there are an overwhelming number of illegal aliens that have lived here so long such that no Federal Administration can practicably deport them. It seems to be working.

Reply to  Old Man Winter
July 1, 2022 1:41 pm

I don’t think that AOC has any say in the operations of the Senate.

Rhoda R.
Reply to  Retired_Engineer_Jim
July 1, 2022 7:35 pm

Being both stupid and a grand stander, AOC consistently exposes her abysmal lack of knowledge of both the Constitution and law.

roaddog
Reply to  Retired_Engineer_Jim
July 2, 2022 7:19 am

Nonetheless, her influence on the Democrat party platform is significant.

July 1, 2022 12:35 pm

Liar Joe Biden was only elected by 2000 Mules.

Rud Istvan
Reply to  Anti-griff
July 1, 2022 1:00 pm

And Ruby Freeman’s hidden suitcases full of ballots in Fulton County Georgia. And the 170,000 extra illegal ‘indefinitely confined ballots in Wisconsin. And the 700,000 more write in ballots counted than requested in Pennsylvania….

MarkW
Reply to  Rud Istvan
July 1, 2022 1:24 pm

Who down voted a statement of fact?
I guess it was someone who doesn’t like facts that run counter to their agenda.

Olen
July 1, 2022 12:53 pm

Don’t bother looking for their thumbs while they are sitting on oil leases!

Punta Gorda
July 1, 2022 3:51 pm

So he lied again. You’re fking surprised?

Bob
July 1, 2022 8:11 pm

I’ve always thought that if private enterprise is required to rely on the federal government for permission to do it’s business and the federal government does not fulfill it’s obligation then private enterprise should be allowed free reign to go ahead with their proposals. Just the opposite of what I see happening. If the government tries to block a project by inaction then the company looking for permission should be allowed to go ahead for some set period of time with their project, say 15 to 20 years. If a companies enterprise is seen to be in need of regulation then it should be regulated. If it is ignored then clearly the government has failed and the company should move forward for the length of time required for it to make a profit or declare the project is not worthwhile. No one should be held back because the government is so inept or evil or not up to the task of proper regulation. To stop progress because the government is crooked, ignorant, inept, misinformed or just evil is unacceptable.

July 2, 2022 1:57 am

If the Government acts illegally, then the oil producers can do that too. Just drill where they want to … and let the Government try to sue them …

Ossqss
Reply to  David Middleton
July 2, 2022 8:27 pm

We need to effectively communicate this type of thing. No short-term green fixes.

Just sayin,,,

David, why do we not see TES discussions? Really?

That really is something that people need to fully understand.

Does this paint a picture of FF obsolescence?

Just in case, if the link brings you to the full site, hit the tab for Data and scroll down to energy supply. No faking that.

Data & Statistics – IEA