On June 17, 2024, the States of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, and four oil and gas trade associations sued the Department of Interior (“DOI”) and its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana, State of Louisiana, et al. v. Haaland, et al., No. 2:2024-cv-00820, challenging BOEM’s new final rule entitled Risk Management and Financial Assurance for OCS Lease and Grant Obligations, 89 Fed. Reg. 31544 (Apr. 24, 2024) (the “Final Rule”).
Continue Reading Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi Band Together to Stop BOEM’s New $6.9B Financial Assurance Rule

On April 15, 2024, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (“BOEM”) released a prepublication of its highly anticipated final rule revising financial assurance requirements for oil, gas, and sulfur operations on the federal outer continental shelf (“OCS”).
Continue Reading BOEM’s New Financial Assurance Requirements for Federal Oil & Gas Leases, ROWs, and RUEs

BOEM’s GOM wind lease sale earlier this week resulted in just 1 high bid of $5.6 million. A drop in the bucket compared to last year’s California wind lease sale which received five winning bids ranging from $130-$173.8 million and totaling $757.1 million. Now what? Find out here on Liskow’s Energy Law Blog.
Continue Reading First-Ever Gulf of Mexico Wind Auction Results in Only 1 Wind Lease Offshore Louisiana. What Happens Next?

In response to multiple requests from stakeholders and interested parties during the third Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management agreed to extend the public comment periods for the two potential wind energy areas (WEAs) and the draft Environmental Assessment (EA). Both 30-day comment periods

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held its third Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting on July 27, 2022 (3rd Meeting). The first two meetings were held on June 15, 2021, and February 2, 2022, respectively. The primary purpose of this meeting was to present the preliminary

Last week, the Louisiana Governor’s Office hosted Louisiana Wind Week 2021 to assess Louisiana’s future in offshore wind energy development. Louisiana Wind Week followed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)’s first Gulf of Mexico Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting, which was held on June 15.
Continue Reading Louisiana’s Future in Offshore Wind: Takeaways from Louisiana Wind Week

Following through with President Biden’s campaign promise to halt oil and gas drilling on federal lands, on January 20, 2021, the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior (“Interior”) issued an order, effective immediately, mandating a 60-day moratorium on new oil and gas leases and drilling permits on public lands and waters (“Order”).
Continue Reading U.S. DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR ISSUES 60-DAY MORATORIUM ON FEDERAL LEASING AND DRILLING PERMITS

Governor John Bel Edwards has identified offshore wind energy as a feature component of his recently announced renewable energy initiative for the Gulf of Mexico. The Governor announced the initiative at the inaugural meeting of his Climate Initiative Task Force.
Continue Reading Governor Edwards Indicates that Offshore Wind is on the Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico

In the midst of a chaotic year and a tense campaign season, issues such as COVID-19, race relations, and healthcare seem to be at the forefront of Americans’ minds as they head to the polls on November 3.  But the oil and gas industry stands to be impacted regardless of the election outcome in November, and those impacts will have wide-reaching effects on the U.S. economy, its energy independence, and its diplomatic relations.  The 2020 Presidential candidates, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, have divergent positions on U.S. oil and gas production, with the former pledging continued expansion of domestic oil and gas drilling and production, and the latter pledging to transition the U.S. away from its reliance on fossil fuels.
Continue Reading Presidential Election 2020: Considerations for the Oil & Gas Industry