Today, the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced plans for more oil and gas lease sales in 2023. These will be the third federal onshore oil and gas lease sales scheduled for 2023. The sales announced today will offer a total of 112,200 acres of federal land for oil and gas development in Wyoming, Utah, Nebraska, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Michigan. In total, the three lease sales scheduled for 2023 offer over 437,000 acres that will be auctioned off for oil and gas development.

In response to the news, Taxpayers for Common Sense released the following statement from vice president Autumn Hanna:

“For the third time this year, the Department of the Interior (DOI) has announced plans for new oil and gas lease sales under a system that the Department itself has deemed broken. Taxpayers deserve better. DOI must initiate a rulemaking for the federal oil and gas leasing system before holding any new lease sales in order to ensure American taxpayers get a fair return on the resources we own.”

Background

On Tuesday, December 20, the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced plans for new oil and gas lease sales in 2023. The sales will offer a total of 112,200 acres of federal land for oil and gas development—95,420 acres in Wyoming, 16,619 acres in Utah, 160 acres in Nebraska, 90.86 acres in Mississippi, 88.81 acres in Louisiana, and 40 acres in Michigan. The sales will include reforms implemented by the Inflation Reduction Act. This is the third federal onshore oil and gas lease sale scheduled for 2023 announced by the Administration. In October, DOI announced plans to offer over 261,200 acres of federal land in Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, and Wyoming in the second quarter of 2023 and in November, DOI announced another lease sale offering nearly 100,000 acres of federal land in Utah and Nevada in the third quarter of 2023.

For more than two decades, TCS has advocated for modernizing the federal oil and gas leasing system to give taxpayers a fair return on the resources we all own. DOI must take prompt actions to modernize oil and gas bonding requirements before moving forward with more lease sales, otherwise taxpayers will be saddled with more cleanup liabilities in the future. The DOI should also prioritize leasing in areas with known resource potential and avoid leasing that conflicts with recreation, wildlife habitat, conservation, and historical and cultural resources. Read more information on the leasing process and needed reforms here:

• The Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Process
• Abandoned Wells and Oil and Gas Bonding FAQ
• Oil and Gas Bonding on Federal Land
• Oil and Gas Bonding and Orphaned Wells Reform—General Principles & Options
• Oil and Gas Speculation on Federal Lands
• Scoring on Oil and Gas in Reconciliation