Central Louisiana News

U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) questioned President Biden’s nominee for deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) regarding delays in offshore lease sales, which he believes are intended to indefinitely postpone energy production in the Gulf of Mexico.

"Will there be a lease sale in 2024?" asked Dr. Cassidy. Nominee Shannon Estenoz referred to the Biden administration’s Five Year Plan, which Cassidy has frequently criticized. Currently, no offshore energy lease sale is scheduled for 2024, marking the first time in 50 years without such a sale.

"[President Biden has] been in office for three and a half years. If you started off the bat, we’d have [a sale] happening now, and something happening in 2025 and 2026," said Dr. Cassidy. "So, it seems as if there is foot-dragging… we’re technically doing it, but in reality, those families who rely upon this income—as your family once did—will be left out to dry."

"[F]rom the outside looking in, it’s just hard to convince me that this is not a strategy of death of 1,000 cuts to the people who depend upon this industry for their economic livelihood," added Dr. Cassidy.

Cassidy also addressed proposed regulations by the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Interior concerning Rice’s whale that could impact offshore energy development by imposing additional restrictions on vessels operating in certain areas of the Gulf of Mexico.

"There’s been this latest ruling regarding the Rice’s whale, in which they’ve found critical habitat maybe because there was a single—possible, maybe, kind of, we think, could have been—sighting off of Texas," said Dr. Cassidy. "[Y]ou can’t help but notice that it’s five miles wide here, but where there’s outer continental shelf drilling, it’s 20-30 miles wide."

Additionally discussed was Cassidy's RISEE Act aimed at improving offshore revenue sharing; Louisiana state law mandates all revenue from offshore revenue-sharing go towards coastal restoration.

"Last year, Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama missed out on about $216 million dollars that would have gone to local resiliency," said Dr. Cassidy. "If we invest now, we have to spend less later."

Last summer saw Cassidy introduce several pieces of legislation with fellow senators Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Steve Daines (R-MT), requiring DOI to hold multiple offshore oil and gas lease sales through 2025.

The last lease sale received 352 total bids—a near-record high—and indicated strong industry optimism about future energy production despite administrative delays.

In September last year, Cassidy led efforts introducing the WHALE Act to prevent maritime rules related to Rice's whale from hindering offshore energy development and military activities.

Recently responding to an inquiry led by Cassidy was the independent U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), which found that BOEM's Notice to Lessees and Operators constitutes a rule.

Cassidy also filed an amicus brief arguing that a settlement agreement undermined legal obligations since the lease sale was mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

Following direction from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, BOEM announced they will hold an oil and gas lease sale for the Gulf of Mexico on December 20th including previously excluded blocks due to stipulations on Rice's whale.