Newly confirmed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum wasted little time implementing many of President Trump’s initial energy executive orders (EOs), unleashing a round of Secretary’s Orders (SOs) this past Monday that push fossil...more
On January 20, President Trump issued several executive orders taking aim at former President Biden’s offshore oil and gas development bans, as well as overturning several other actions designed to boost climate protections....more
In his final days in office, President Joe Biden has exercised his executive authority to withdraw more than 625 million acres of federal waters from future oil and gas leasing – the largest withdrawal of its kind in U.S....more
On January 6, President Biden announced an executive action affecting offshore drilling prior to the end of his term. Biden has issued a decree that will “permanently ban” new offshore oil and gas development in large...more
The U.S. Department of the Interior has long wrestled with how to manage the risk associated with the costly decommissioning of offshore oil wells in federal waters. In recent years, the Department has released, revised, and...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
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 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
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
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
As reported in the last edition of The Climate Report, Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Louisiana, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia (collectively, "Plaintiff States") filed...more
This week, the Ninth Circuit resolves a split among trial courts about the application of California labor laws on drilling platforms on the Outer Continental Shelf. IAFETA MAUIA V. PETROCHEM INSULATION, INC. The...more
The federal Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) directs decommissioning of facilities located in federal waters of the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that are used in performance of oil and gas exploration...more
Federal Law Challenges by State Attorneys General - Attorneys General Challenge “Tax Mandate” Portion of American Rescue Plan - On March 11, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan...more
With U.S. President Joe Biden taking office in January 2021, many energy industry participants have questions regarding how new federal policy may adversely affect oil and gas operators pursuing exploration and development...more
President-elect Biden will assume office in January, 2021, with a divided nation, the global coronavirus pandemic, and a domestic energy market in a distressed state. The new administration will need to oversee the management...more
In 2014, we wrote about efforts by the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) to require less traditional parties to fund the decommissioning of idle oil and gas wells and related...more
As usual, the last month of the Supreme Court’s term generated significant rulings on all manner of cases, possibly presaging the new directions the Court will be taking in administrative and regulatory law....more
The Supreme Court will be deciding some very important regulatory law cases in the new few weeks as the term winds down. CERCLA Circled - Last week, the Court granted a petition to review a significant CERCLA case,...more
On May 2, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) issued the 2019 Well Control Rule (Rule), a long-awaited, revised (and final) well control and blowout preventer rule governing Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)...more
On March 29, 2019, the United States District Court for the District of Alaska issued its ruling in a case challenging a presidential executive order which would have reversed withdrawals of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS)...more
The Department of Interior’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement is soliciting comments on whether and under what circumstances it should allow decommissioning-in-place of pipeline-related infrastructure in...more