Oil and Gas Leasing
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of August 26, 2024
Oil and Gas Leasing: Bureau of Land Management Receives Nearly $24 Million in Bids for Oil and Gas Lease Sales in Montana and North Dakota ⚡
On August 7, 2024, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) conducted a sale for oil and gas leases in the Montana and Dakotas region. The BLM received 264 bids and $23,935,772 in high bids for the 26 parcels, adding up to 5,570 acres, in the Montana-Dakotas Region. The lease sale had its public scoping period from December 28, 2023, to January 29, 2024, and the BLM released its decision record on August […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of August 5, 2024
National Energy Policy: Circuit Court Upholds EPA Regulation of Biogas Producers ⚡
On July 19, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld EPA regulations on biogas producers after challenges from the Coalition for Renewable Energy. Coal. for Renewable Nat. Gas v. EPA, No. 23-1248, 2024 BL 246802 (D.C. Cir. July 19, 2024). The Coalition challenged the EPA’s recent regulation of renewable biomass, claiming the EPA’s regulations were arbitrary and lacked proper authority, claiming that 42 USC 7545: Regulation of fuels does not allow for regulation of biogas producers. The Court found in the EPA’s […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of July 29, 2024
LNG Exports: D.C. Federal Court Orders Environmental Assessment for Commonwealth LNG Project ⚡
On July 16, 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a per curiam order granting in part and denying in part petitions to review the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of a proposed Gulf Coast LNG project by Commonwealth LNG. Healthy Gulf v. FERC, No. 23-1069 (D.C. Cir. 2024). The petitioners, five environmental groups, argued that FERC did not properly address National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Natural Gas Act (NGA) requirements, nor did it properly “determine […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of June 03, 2024
LNG Infrastructure: FERC Approves Pre-Filing Environmental Review Process for Gulfstream LNG’s Louisiana Project ⚡
On May 16, 2024, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved Gulfstream LNG Development, LLC’s (Gulfstream) request for the use of FERC’s pre-filing environmental review process. The new Gulfstream LNG Terminal Project will be in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana (docket number PF24-5). The planned construction includes: “a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility with gas processing facilities; three LNG trains; one LNG storage tank; two marine loading births; and one on-site power generation plant.” Gulfstream states that the project will export 4 million […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of April 15, 2024
National Energy Policy: USDA Funds Clean Energy Projects for PA Farmers and Rural Businesses ⚡
On March 28, 2024, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced it will be investing $5.69 million in 31 energy efficiency and renewable energy projects across 12 Pennsylvania counties. This investment is part of the March announcement of $120 million in Inflation Reduction Funds being allocated across 44 states through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). The USDA stated that selected REAP projects help farmers and rural business owners “lower energy costs, generate new income and create jobs” by utilizing clean energy and increasing […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of February 5, 2024
Oil and Gas Leasing: BOEM Publishes Final Procedures for Bid Adequacy in Lease Sales ⚡
On Monday, January 22, 2024, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published final revisions to the bid adequacy procedures for offshore oil and gas lease sales. The final procedures yielded no significant changes from the proposed revisions that were published and available for comment in the Federal Register in January 2023. BOEM states that these revisions will simplify bid adequacy determinations by eliminating steps in the existing process, including tract classification. This methodology update evaluates a tract’s fair market value and uses that to […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of January 1, 2024
GHG Emissions: U.S. Treasury Provides New Guidance on Sustainable Aviation Fuel Credits ⚡
On December 13, 2023, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published Notice 2024-6, which contains additional guidance on how to qualify for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) tax credits defined under Section 40B of the Internal Revenue Code. According to Section 40B, to qualify for credit, a SAF must have a minimum reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of at least fifty percent. Additionally, a supplemental credit in the amount of one cent per percent can be earned for each reduction […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of November 27, 2023
Oil and Gas Leasing: Alaska Court Rules in Favor of Willow Project, Permitting ConocoPhillip to Explore and Develop on the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska ⚡
On November 9, 2023, the United States District Court for the District of Alaska upheld ConocoPhillips’s authorization to explore and develop oil on its leases in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A). Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic et al. v. Bureau of Land Management et al., No. 3:23-cv-00058-SLG (D. Alaska Nov. 9, 2023) (unpublished); see also U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, Bureau of Land Mgmt., Record of Decision for the […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of November 6, 2023
Oil & Gas Leasing: Alaska Challenges DOI’s Cancellation of Leases in Alaska National Wildlife Refuge ⚡
On October 18, 2023, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (ADIEA), a public corporation owned by the State of Alaska, sued DOI for cancelling its leases in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Alaska Indus. Dev. & Export Auth. v. U.S. Dep’t of the Interior, No. 1:23-cv-03126 (D.D.C. Oct. 18, 2023). The leases were initially suspended by the Department of the Interior (DOI) in 2021, and later cancelled on September 16, 2023. ADIEA seeks to overturn the DOI’s decision to cancel […]
Shale Law Weekly Review—Week of October 2, 2023
Oil and Gas Leasing: Louisiana District Court Orders BOEM to Hold Offshore Lease Sale Without Additional Protections for Endangered Whales ⚡
On Thursday, September 21, 2023, the West District Court of Louisiana granted a Motion for Preliminary Injunction filed by the state of Louisiana and three oil companies in their lawsuit against the government and several environmental justice groups. The suit arose after the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) withdrew six million acres from Lease Sale 261, a proposed lease on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, and restricted “vessel activity in the lease area” to […]
