Along with other charges, the attached complaint asserts that awarding a wind lease to Norway’s Equinor, violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA):
- As an agency or instrumentality of Norway, Equinor cannot receive a lease on the Outer Continental Shelf for offshore wind turbine development or generation of electric power.
While other elements of the complaint appear to have merit, the charge against Norway does not. Here’s why:
- US subsidiaries of foreign companies have long held leases under the OCS Lands Act.
- Equinor US Wind is the US subsidiary holding the wind lease.
- Equinor USA E&P holds interests in OCS oil and gas leases in the Gulf of America. BOEM credits 548,389 barrels of oil production to Equinor for 2023.
- Chinese state-owned CNOOC has been an oil and gas lessee in the Gulf of America.
- US subsidiaries of Shell and BP, both foreign corporations, are the top 2 producers in the Gulf. Although not government owned, there is nothing in OCSLA that distinguishes between US subsidiaries of private and govt owned companies. Woodside (Australia) and Eni (Italy) are also important Gulf producers.
The plaintiffs second count (excerpt below) seems to have more merit. The bulk of the filing pertains to this count.
- BOEM never completed its “necessary review”, see Stop Work Order, April 16, 2025, and, instead, reinstated the Empire Wind work permit on May 19, 2025 without any explanation or finding, stating as follows:
On April 16, 2025, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a Director’s Order to Empire Offshore Wind LLC to halt all ongoing activities related to the Empire Wind Project on the outer continental shelf. That Order is hereby amended to lift the halt on activities during the ongoing review.
The complaint goes on to discuss the reasons why the plaintiffs believe the review was indeed necessary and should have been conducted.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 