Alaska joins multi-state o&g leasing suit

Kay Cashman

Petroleum News

On March 24, Gov. Mike Dunleavy said the State of Alaska joined a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana challenging President Biden’s “unlawful moratorium” on the federal oil and gas leasing program. At issue is a Jan. 27 Biden executive order halting all new leasing, “pending completion of a comprehensive review and reconsideration of federal oil and gas permitting and leasing practices.”

The lawsuit was filed by a group of GOP attorneys general representing 13 states. Wyoming’s attorney general filed a similar lawsuit in a Wyoming court.

“We fear that President Biden’s attack on federal oil and gas leasing has only begun, and the state must be involved to protect the interests of all Alaskans in the responsible development of the bountiful natural resources contained within Alaska,” said Dunleavy.

“This overreaching executive order has delayed a long-planned federal oil and gas lease sale in Alaska’s Cook Inlet,” said Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor.

Alaska prohibits waste and restricts the circumstances under which flaring and venting may occur. Less than 0.3% of the total volume of produced gas is flared or vented in Alaska and a very small fraction of that is waste.

Several other state and federal regulatory bodies ensure that from start to finish environmental impacts are scrutinized and mitigated to the greatest extent practicable, Dunleavy’s release said.

- KAY CASHMAN