Happy Thursday!
Have you happened to see our blog
at the end of August, September 27, October 5, and October 30, 2023 about the drama
over the Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 261? I’ll give you a recap of the soap opera. Back at the end of August the Department of
Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) was being sued by the Oil
and Gas Industry for reducing the acreage by about 6 million acres and making
new terms and restrictions for the lease sale because of the endangered species
which lives in the northern Gulf of Mexico, and the environmentalists sued to
stop the sale and the revised terms were part of an agreement with them to hold
the lease sale. The Oil and Gas
Industry’s case had its day in court on September 21, 2023, the U.S. District
Court for the Western District of Louisiana and the Honorable Judge, James
David Cain, Jr., ruled the BOEM must return to the original lease sale terms
and acreage announced back in March because the changes came at the last minute
and the proper steps were not taken to make the changes. By the end of the week the BOEM filed an
emergency request to allow the sale to proceed, but leave the new restrictions,
and the environmentalist also filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 5th Circuit in New Orleans.
The following week the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th
Circuit sent down a ruling delaying the September 27, 2023, Oil and Gas Lease Sale
261 to November 8, 2023, to allow for them to consider the request. Then at the
end of October 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issued
a stay on the sale which was scheduled for November 8, 2023, so they could have
time to have arguments on November 13, 2023.
Did anyone
happen to read the Oil & Gas Journal’s Newsletter on November 15,
2023, their article titled, “Appeals court orders BOEM to go ahead with Gulf of
Mexico oil, gas lease sale”? In the
article, it goes on to speak about the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th
Circuit in New Orleans had the arguments on November 14, 2023 and made their
ruling. The 5th Circuit ruled
the original sale must be held in 37 days or by December 22, 2023, as
originally posted with no reduced acreage and no restrictions. During court it was admitted the Endangered Species
Act process is ongoing for the Rice Whales and at some point, restrictions could
be added. The court noted a winning tract
still has to file an exploration plan and restrictions could be added. The Plaintiffs
of the case were satisfied with the ruling and timeline. If you would like to read more of the Oil
& Gas Journal’s article, please click the link: https://www.ogj.com/general-interest/government/article/14301569/appeals-court-orders-boem-to-go-ahead-with-gulf-of-mexico-oil-gas-lease-sale?o_eid=7683F9823212A5B&oly_enc_id=7683F9823212A5B&rdx.ident[pull]=omeda|7683F9823212A5B&utm_cam.
Did anyone
receive an email from the BOEM today?
BOEM announced the Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 261 will be on December
20, 2023. The BOEM’s Final Notice of
Sale will be on the Federal Register on November 20, 2023. If you would like to see the notice for the scheduling of the lease sale from the
BOEM, please click the link: Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 Scheduled | Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (boem.gov).
If you would
like help in looking into how to transport your product efficiently, safely, and
with less of a carbon footprint or just find out what is underneath your feet
to help with your emission reduction goals, contact us via email in the blog
and check out our ESC's website!
We hope you have a wonderful evening and a great rest of
your week!
**Disclaimer: You may be charged a fee to read The Oil
and Gas Journal’s article. **