Oil And Gas Producers Should Prepare For High Stakes Fight With Biden Administration

Oil And Gas Producers Should Prepare For High Stakes Fight With Biden Administration

The U.S. oil and natural gas industry is scrambling to understand what President Joe Biden's moratorium on new leasing and permitting in federal lands and waters means for their ability to operate moving forward.

In itself, the 60-day moratorium should have minimal impact on production volumes. Many oil and gas producers with operations in federal areas stockpiled drilling permits before Biden took office to prepare for just this scenario.

On the other hand, the freeze likely foreshadows further actions from the Biden administration, making the risks much more significant for the next four years. 

So much for the notion of Biden as a pragmatic, moderate Democrat who would ultimately spare the strategic energy industry from the most radical plans hatched by climate activists in the party's progressive wing.

Consider this an opening salvo from the new administration and expect bolder attacks on the domestic oil and gas industry in the future. President Biden will now consider a permanent ban on new leasing and permitting activity and other anti-fossil fuel measures as part of his climate agenda.

But the industry can and will fight the measures. It's not as if it has no legal recourse. Just as environmentalists jammed up many of former President Donald Trump's efforts to ease