Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE)

The judge correctly dismissed the unfounded claim that new oil and gas leasing would preclude wind development in the Gulf. BOE comments:

• The number of GoM platforms is down 75% from its peak and continuing to decline.
• Most new production is in the deepwater GoM and is accomplished with very few, remote and widely dispersed facilities. There are currently only 57 deepwater platforms across the entire Gulf.
• The wind industry appreciates the synergy between offshore oil and gas and offshore wind operations. Indeed the oil industry has been very supportive of offshore wind, and some of the same operating companies and contractors are major players in both industries.
• t has been 17 years since the enabling legislation was passed, yet we are still awaiting the first commercial wind project in the US Atlantic. You can’t blame the oil and gas industry for that delay. To the contrary, one can make the case that the presence of oil and gas operations would have accelerated Atlantic wind development.
• The enabling legislation for offshore wind was drafted by the agency that managed the offshore oil and gas program and recognized the compatibility of oil and wind development. Wind development is clearly a high priority for BOEM, the current OCS land manager.

Will the Administration appeal the court decision to vacate the lease sale or does the decision assist them by reinstating their leasing pause? How will the conflict between the DC court decision and the injunction invalidating the leasing pause (Federal Court for the Western District of Louisiana) be resolved?

What does this mean for the 94 leases that were to have been acquired for carbon sequestration purposes? Will BOEM have a proper CCS sale after conducting an environmental assessment, determining bidding terms and evaluation criteria, and publishing a Notice of Sale? Or will there be a legislative end run that authorizes the issuance of the leases without these steps?