WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis (both R-WY) joined Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) and eight of their colleagues in introducing a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the Bureau of Land Management’s Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process rule. The rule significantly increases royalties, rates, minimum bids and costs for oil and gas producers on federal lands and will negatively impact energy production in Wyoming.
“President Biden is doing everything he can to end oil and natural gas production on federal lands,” said Barrasso. “The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) latest oil and gas rule imposes steep costs on producers, making it economically impossible to produce energy on BLM lands. Less oil and natural gas from federal lands means fewer jobs for Americans and more money to the Middle East, Venezuela, Russia, and Iran. Our legislation will force the Biden administration to reverse course and finally unleash American energy production.”
“Producers in Wyoming and throughout the west are already struggling under the tsunami of regulations and fees that have been thrown at them by the Biden administration,” said Lummis. “While another fee on domestic producers will increase the cost of operating and push some out of business, it will not change the need for energy in this country. When it is more expensive to produce energy domestically, our adversaries like Russia and Iran benefit and U.S. consumers are forced to pay more at the pump.”
The legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-ID), John Hoeven (R-ND), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Mike Lee (R-UT), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Ted Cruz (R-TX).
Background:
The Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process rule:
- Significantly increases royalties, rates, minimum bids and costs for oil and gas producers on federal lands.
- Increases bonding for producers which will have negatively impact small producers.
- Many of the provisions in the new rule are the result of the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act, however the bonding portion in particular was successfully removed by Republicans through the Byrd rule.
- The Bureau of Land Management, despite clear rejection from Congress, chose to increase bonds by massive amounts.
- The new rule increases the minimum lease bond amount to $150,000 per well (previously $10,000), the minimum statewide bond to $500,000 (previously $25,000) and it eliminates nationwide bond (previously $150,000).
President Joe Biden’s relentless Green New Deal inspired regulatory agenda has caused gas prices to increase more than 50% since he entered office.
Click here to read the CRA resolution.
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