By Jennifer A. Dlouhy (Bloomberg) -- A top Interior Department official told oil industry leaders the Trump administration is seeking to sign contracts leasing new coastal waters for oil drilling under favorable terms that will be difficult for future presidents to revoke or rewrite. Joe Balash, the assistant secretary for land and minerals management, outlined that approach … [Read more...]
U.S. Interior Official Suggests Trump’s Drilling Proposal Will Include Parts of Atlantic
By Nichola Groom (Reuters) - The Trump administration is likely to open up portions of the Atlantic to oil and gas drilling despite opposition from East Coast states, a U.S. Interior Department official suggested in remarks at a recent energy industry conference, a recording of which was reviewed by Reuters. The comments come as the administration of President Donald Trump … [Read more...]
Trump Administration’s Five-Year Offshore Drilling Plan Expected ‘In Coming Weeks’
By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The Trump administration's revised five-year program to expand offshore drilling in most federal waters will be released "in the coming weeks," an Interior Department official said on Wednesday, after months of opposition from coastal state lawmakers opposed to exposing their shorelines to oil and gas exploration. Walter … [Read more...]
Trump’s Atlantic Oil Effort Runs Aground In South Carolina
by Carlyann Edwards (Bloomberg) More than half the registered voters in Republican-controlled South Carolina supported Donald Trump in a poll last month, but there’s at least one area where state leaders are ditching the president to join rival Democrats: a fight against oil exploration off the Atlantic coast. While no new drilling has been approved in U.S. Atlantic waters, … [Read more...]
Attorneys General Fire New Salvo in Offshore Drilling Fight Off U.S. East Coast
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy (Bloomberg) -- Attorneys general from nine coastal states are intervening in a lawsuit aimed at blocking seismic surveys that could help pinpoint oil under Atlantic waters but also imperil whales and dolphins. The move brings the heft and resources of top state law enforcement officials to a fight over the future of oil and gas exploration along the … [Read more...]