Federal officials announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a three-year-old rule — known as the Warehouse Indirect Source Rule (Rule) — targeting air pollution linked to Southern...more
A federal court has thrown out key Endangered Species Act (ESA) analyses of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico, which will be vacated as of Dec. 20, 2024. The United States District Court for the District of...more
This morning our nation's highest court agreed to hear an appeal by seven Utah Counties and a railroad company of a DC Circuit Court of Appeals decision. That DC Circuit decision revoked the Surface Transportation Board's...more
For a decade, the U.S. Department of the Interior has wrestled with financial assurance (or bonding) requirements for offshore oil and gas companies. Over the last 10 years, the Interior Department has released – and later...more
The Energy Act 2023 (the “Act”) (in force as from 26 October 2023) amends model clauses contained in exploration and production licences to introduce requirements for consent to be obtained from the North Sea Transition...more
The WEC Rule would impose fees for oil and gas facilities reporting a certain amount of greenhouse gas emissions per year. On January 26, 2024, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published in the Federal...more
After months of delay, the U.S. Department of the Interior auctioned off 1.7 million acres for offshore oil and gas leases during Lease Sale 261 on Dec. 20, 2023. (See Holland & Knight's previous alert, "Interior Department...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Nov. 14, 2023, dismissed claims brought by environmental groups challenging offshore oil and gas Lease Sale 261. The court ordered that the sale take place within 37 days of...more
On 7 November 2023, the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill (the Bill) was announced as part of King Charles III’s “King’s Speech”, outlining the UK Government’s legislative agenda for the upcoming UK parliamentary session. If...more
The future of California water storage reached a major milestone on Thursday with the finalization of plans for the Sites Reservoir in Northern California. The reservoir would be the second largest off-stream reservoir in the...more
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a strong, uncompromising pro-Hamas stance in the latter’s military conflict with Israel last week. In so doing, he torpedoed any potential in the near future for possible joint...more
The California Independent System Operator (CAISO) is the strongest market in the U.S. when it comes to using energy storage for renewable integration, grid optimization, and electrification and decentralization, with a 43.7...more
The United States Department of the Interior published the final well control rule on Aug. 22 from the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE). The rule clarifies blowout preventer (BOP) system regulations and...more
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced its National Enforcement and Compliance Initiatives for 2024-2027. The list includes first-time initiatives to mitigate exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl...more
In a recent decision, the Federal Court has rejected an attempt by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to set aside ministerial approval of a significant offshore oil and gas project. The NGOs argued that the Minister...more
The Opportune 2023 Study has been conducted to independently calculate the OCS plugging and abandonment (P&A) liability, assess the risk such liability poses to the U.S. taxpayer, and perform a cost-benefit analysis of how...more
The Biden administration has proposed changes regarding when oil, gas, and sulfur lessees and certain other parties operating in the offshore Outer Continental Shelf must post additional bonds or other “supplemental financial...more
On June 29, 2023, the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published a proposed rule that, if adopted, would substantially revise the financial assurance requirements applicable to offshore oil...more
The U.S. Department of the Interior, through its Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), published a proposed rule on June 29, 2023, to significantly modify how the agency assesses the offshore oil and gas industry's...more
● Offshore Oil and Gas at Risk of Potentially Catastrophic Cyberattack: GAO - “The industry includes about 1,600 offshore oil and gas facilities that are highly dependent on remotely connected operational technology, the...more
The Inflation Reduction Act (the Act), which passed the U.S. Senate on Aug. 7, 2022, requires that previously announced offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska be held during the next two years....more
Market Update - We are pleased to bring you the Conyers 2022 Norway Bulletin. Our annual publication underscores the importance of the Norwegian market to our Bermuda corporate practice....more
The U.S. Department of the Interior on July 1, 2022, released its long-awaited update on the next Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) five-year proposed offshore drilling program (Program), a day after the previous program expired....more
In a recent Notice of Inquiry, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) signaled that it may free up radio spectrum for offshore broadband networks and connectivity to land-based systems to support next...more
In Environmental Defense Center et al. v. BOEM et al (No. 19-55526), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on June 3, 2022, invalidated the U.S. Department of Interior's issuance of dozens of permits for well...more