United states

Biden administrator cancels large-scale sale of oil and gas lease amid record high gas prices

The Kennedy panel responded to President Biden’s “economic mistakes” as inflation reached 8.3% in April.

The Biden administration canceled one of the most notorious oil and gas leases ahead of the Home Office on Wednesday as Americans face record high pump prices, according to the AAA.

The DOI has halted the potential to drill more than 1 million acres of oil in Cook Bay, Alaska, along with two rental sales in the Gulf of Mexico. The move comes after Biden has taken several steps to combat high gas prices, despite his administration’s generally hostile approach to the oil industry.

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A spokesman for the DOI cited a lack of industry interest in leasing in the area “for the decision not to move forward” with the sale of the lease to Cook Inlet, CBS News reported. The spokesman also said the department had canceled the Gulf of Mexico leases – leases 259 and leases 261 – due to “conflicting court decisions that have affected the work on these proposed leases”.

Gas prices have risen 50% nationwide in the last year (Getty Images / Getty Images)

Federal law requires the DOI to adhere to a five-year lease plan to tender for offshore leasing transactions. The department had until the end of the current five-year plan – which expires on June 30 – to complete sales.

In his first week in office, President Biden signed an executive order suspending new oil and gas leases on federal lands. The administration resumed the new lease last month after challenging the ban in court. The administration is appealing a decision by which Judge James Kane, appointed to Trump, lifted the ban.

The District Court of Washington, DC, annulled another lease on the Gulf of Mexico, Lease 257, in January. The administration is not appealing the decision, although it concerns a separate lease from those mentioned by a DOI spokesman on Wednesday.

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Steve Miloy, a former Trump-Pence transitional member of EPA and founder of JunkScience.com, traced those cancellations to President Biden in remarks to FOX Business on Wednesday.

Alaska, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, ANWR, narrow from Schrader to Lake Peters. (Photo by: Universal Images Group via Getty Images) (Photo by: Universal Images Group via Getty Images) / Getty Images)

“In Alaska, the problem was that the Greens scared almost everyone,” Miloy said. “Exploration and drilling is expensive, and the Greens have made it pretty clear that they would make it even harder.”

When former President Trump opened the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for drilling, the rental sale attracted only three candidates, including Alaska itself. Environmental activists have been opposed to ANWR drilling for decades, and Miloy suggested that pressure from climate activists has scared off oil companies. This sale also took place in early 2021, amid the economic recession of COVID-19 and when Biden, who was campaigning to curb the oil industry, was on his way to becoming president.

“I blame Biden for the whole lack of production. He scared the investment, “Miloj told FOX Business. “I don’t trust the court that defends leasing,” he added, suggesting that the president would find an excuse not to try. They even tried to use the social cost of the carbon solution to stop leasing. “

US average gas prices have reached new highs in recent days, according to the AAA gas price calculator. The average price of regular gasoline for the country reached $ 4,374 on Tuesday, a new record, and $ 4,404 on Wednesday, another record.

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Prices come like the European Union edges to oil sanctions against Russia amid the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. This is also happening against the background of record high inflation, reaching the consumer price index 8.3% in Aprilmoving near the 40-year peak for March.

The White House blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for record high gas prices in the United States, even inventing a jump like “#PutinPriceHike” and promised that President Biden would do everything possible to protect Americans from “pump pain.” “

Biden announced last month that Environmental Protection Agency will allow the sale of E15 gasoline – gasoline that uses a mixture of 15% ethanol – across the country this summer. Biden also aims to release 1 million barrels of oil per day from the strategic oil reserve for the next 6 months. The president also called on Congress to force companies to pay fees for non-operating oil wells and non-producing acres of federal land, with the goal of boosting new production.

As Becky Mitchell, far left, from both the Colorado Water Board and US Diana Deget, D-Colo. solutions to alleviate (AP Photo / David Zalubowski / Associated Press)

Critics accuse Biden of “delivery problem” in the store.

While the DOI acknowledged the cancellation of the lease, it celebrated the winners of the Carolina Long Bay offshore wind auction on Wednesday.

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“The Biden-Harris administration is moving forward with the pace and scale needed to achieve the president’s goal of making offshore wind energy a reality for the United States,” said DOI Secretary Deb Haaland in a statement. “Together with a government-wide approach, we can tackle the effects of climate change while creating well-paid union jobs that can benefit underserved communities.”

The Department of the Interior and the American Petroleum Institute did not respond to requests for comment from FOX Business after business hours.