In one of his final acts before Trump returns to the White House, US President Biden has implemented a ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling across most of America’s coastline.
The decision from the ‘lame-duck’ President, was taken in light of the “environmental and economic risks and harms that would result from drilling” that “outweigh their limited fossil fuel resource potential” according to an official announcement on The White House website. As such, more than 625 million acres of the US ocean has been protected from drilling, principally the entire U.S. East coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific off the coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California, and additional portions of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska. These have been protected from future oil and natural gas leasing in a bid to safeguard coastal communities, marine ecosystems, and local economies from oil spills and other impacts of offshore drilling.
For President Trump – who has recently named a fracking executive as his Energy Secretary – it presents an immediate challenge and one that he has promised to address as soon as he comes to power. In a radio interview, the President-elect said he has the “right to unban it” and he would do so at the earliest opportunity.
However, this may not be so simple. As outlined by Reuters, the Lands Act does not grant President’s legal authority to overturn prior bans and any attempt to do so would likely require an act of Congress. Biden’s bid to protect the marine environment could, therefore, not be as futile as Trump imagines and could bring a temporary halt to his plans to unleash domestic fossil fuel production.
Fortunately, for oil and gas companies who are eager to maintain production rates but are now unable to fall back on the tried and tested method of drilling, production enhancement through well intervention can offer a timely solution. Certainly, the longer the ban on new drilling stands, the more attractive this method of sustaining rates will become, presenting a potentially lucrative market and unique opportunity for those involved in delivering well intervention services.
