NorthAmOil: Biden administration to resume federal oil and gas leasing

The administration of US President Joe Biden will resume oil and gas leasing on federal land following a court decision temporarily reinstating a measure that puts a higher price on the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with projects.
The development marks the latest twist in a saga that has been ongoing since Biden took office and attempted to review and overhaul the federal oil and gas leasing system, with climate change concerns in mind.
The previous administration, under former US President Donald Trump, had imposed a value of roughly $10 per ton (0.91 per tonne) of GHGs emitted. But the Biden administration reverted to a far higher value of around $50 per ton, which had been brought in by the administration of former President Barack Obama, under whom Biden had served as Vice-President.
Around a month ago, the US Department of the Interior (DoI) said it would delay upcoming federal oil and gas lease sales after a court blocked it from using this “social cost of carbon” value to factor the risks of climate change into permitting decisions on federal land. But last week, a federal appeals court allowed the government to continue using the value temporarily.
"With this ruling, the department continues its planning for responsible oil and gas development on America’s public lands and waters," a DoI spokesperson, Melissa Schwartz, told Reuters in an emailed statement. She did not say how soon lease sales would resume.
The DoI has said it continues to move forward with reforms to address “the significant shortcomings” in the US’ oil and gas leasing programmes, both onshore and offshore.