“Offshore wind, I have decided to put the project on pause” with Trump’s return, Total Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said at an energy industry conference in London on Tuesday.
“I said to my team, the project in New York, we’ll see that in four years,”he said. “But the advantage is it’s only for four years.”
Perhaps Mr. Pouyanne thinks Total owns those 84,332 acres in the Atlantic or that they have the right to hold the leased area indefinitely. They do not. The OCS Lands Act calls for diligent development of leases and BOEM has promulgated implementing regulations.
The Total (Attentive Energy) lease was issued on 5/1/2022. Per 30 CFR § 585.235(a)(1), the company must submit a Construction and Operations Plant (COP) no later than 5/1/2027, more than 20 months before the end of the Trump administration. BOEM will have ample time to act on the plan prior to the next administration.
BOEM could also call for progress updates and an earlier COP submittal if there is evidence that the lessee is not moving forward with development plans (as would already seem to be the case given Mr. Pouyanne’s public statements in London).
In the absence of progress in developing the lease, BOEM could seek cancellation (§ 556.1102) for failure to comply with the diligence mandate in OCSLA (556.1102 (a)). Cancellation could also be pursued based on misrepresentations in acquiring the lease (556.1102 (c)) or the threat of unacceptable harm to the environment or national security (556.1102 (d)).
Rather than making rash comments at a public forum in London, perhaps Mr. Pouyanne would have been wise to first meet with energy officials of the new administration early next year. At a minimum, the CEO’s comments will help justify any attempts to cancel the Total (Attentive Energy) lease on diligence grounds.
A group of environmental organizations demanded Wednesday that the Biden administration suspend and cancel oil and gas leases in federal waters off the California coast after a recent crude oil spill.
While not the disaster that some had predicted, this spill is another setback for California offshore production. However, cancellation of the remaining producing leases would be a very difficult and costly proposition for the Federal government. At this time, the Beta Unit operator appears to be minimally responsible for the spill, so what would be the basis for cancelling those leases? Cancelling other producible leases would be even more problematic.
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 
Total wants to sit on their wind lease until the next administration (2029). Can they do that?
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Wind, tagged Attentive Energy, BOEM, CEO comments, COP deadline, diligent development, lease cancellation, OCSLA, Total, wind lease on December 3, 2024| Leave a Comment »
Impressive arrogance from the CEO of a foreign company that paid $795 million for a lease (OCS-A 0538) that was worth pennies on the dollar even before the Presidential election:
“Offshore wind, I have decided to put the project on pause” with Trump’s return, Total Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said at an energy industry conference in London on Tuesday.
“I said to my team, the project in New York, we’ll see that in four years,” he said. “But the advantage is it’s only for four years.”
Perhaps Mr. Pouyanne thinks Total owns those 84,332 acres in the Atlantic or that they have the right to hold the leased area indefinitely. They do not. The OCS Lands Act calls for diligent development of leases and BOEM has promulgated implementing regulations.
The Total (Attentive Energy) lease was issued on 5/1/2022. Per 30 CFR § 585.235(a)(1), the company must submit a Construction and Operations Plant (COP) no later than 5/1/2027, more than 20 months before the end of the Trump administration. BOEM will have ample time to act on the plan prior to the next administration.
BOEM could also call for progress updates and an earlier COP submittal if there is evidence that the lessee is not moving forward with development plans (as would already seem to be the case given Mr. Pouyanne’s public statements in London).
In the absence of progress in developing the lease, BOEM could seek cancellation (§ 556.1102) for failure to comply with the diligence mandate in OCSLA (556.1102 (a)). Cancellation could also be pursued based on misrepresentations in acquiring the lease (556.1102 (c)) or the threat of unacceptable harm to the environment or national security (556.1102 (d)).
Rather than making rash comments at a public forum in London, perhaps Mr. Pouyanne would have been wise to first meet with energy officials of the new administration early next year. At a minimum, the CEO’s comments will help justify any attempts to cancel the Total (Attentive Energy) lease on diligence grounds.
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