July 21, 2023 |
Photo – Senator John Barrasso – Bigfoot99 file photo
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon and U.S. Senator John Barrasso, on Thursday, denounced a proposed White House rule that will raise the price of leasing federal lands for oil and gas production. Consumers ultimately will feel the cost.
The proposal codifies provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act to raise production prices.
The BLM is going a step further by adding costs to individual wells. The agency also intends to further restrict where development can occur on federal lands and new requirements on permits.
Sen. Barrasso released a scathing announcement of the new rule on Thursday. “President Biden’s assault on affordable, available and reliable American energy knows no bounds,” Barrasso said in a statement. “With the stroke of a pen, the Biden Administration will put Wyoming oil and gas workers on the unemployment line.”
Wyoming’s senior senator said that yesterday’s rule by the Democrat Administration is in line with Biden’s vow to end drilling on federal lands.
Barrasso called the rule destructive and punitive, noting that the onshore oil and gas program returned home more that $43 to American tax payers for every dollar spent.
Governor Gordon said the proposed BLM rule will negatively impact Wyoming energy producers.
“It has been my experience that when Washington, D.C. talks about balanced development as we transition to clean energy, it is merely code for additional burdens on the fossil fuel industry,” the governor said.
Governor Gordon said the proposed BLM rule shows a disregard for protections already in place in Wyoming for wildlife, cultural and historic sites and reclamation of oil and gas wells.
Americans will feel the pain of the new rule, the governor noted. “This administration is doing everything it can to make things worse for those struggling to pay their bills,” the governor said.
The new rule was announced Thursday. It requires oil and gas companies to pay more to drill on public lands and be held to stronger requirements regarding clean-up of old or abandoned wells.
The rule proposed by the Interior Department raises royalty rates for oil drilling by more than one-third, to 16.67%, or nearly 17% to drill on public lands. The previous rate of 12.5% paid by oil and gas companies for federal drilling rights had remained unchanged for a century.
Environmental groups say the new Biden rule does not go far enough in curbing new oil and gas leasing on public lands as the president promised during his 2020 presidential campaign. The rule is likely to drive up the cost of gasoline at the pump.
