Trump Opens Up “All Available” Gulf Federal Waters Open for Oil and Natural Gas Drilling Leases, Other Lease Programs Possible

When the lease sale takes place in August, it will include 10 possible leases for the Gulf of Mexico, covering 73 million acres of federal waters.

Zinke will have the opportunity to review opening up offshore drilling in federal Arctic and Atlantic waters once he has his full team in high- level Interior Department positions in place. He indicated that the Gulf lease program is part of a broader Trump Administration energy strategy:

The Gulf is a vital part of that strategy to spur economic opportunities for industry, states and local communities, to create jobs and home-grown energy and to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”

The Exxon/Mobil announcement said that the company’s investment will create more than 45,000 construction and manufacturing jobs with salaries ranging up to $125,000. Company CEO Darren Woods cited the Trump Administration’s agenda for deregulation as additional incentive to expand the investment program.

The Trump energy program is based in part on rolling back Obama Administration policies to remove federal waters in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans from offshore drilling. By opening more federal lands and waters for exploration, the potential for total energy independence exists.

The federal Arctic waters are estimated to have 27 billion barrels of oil and 132 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Just prior to leaving office, President Obama used an Executive Order to make 31 canyons in the Atlantic Ocean off limits for drilling. This order set aside approximately 3.8 million acres.

With the possibility of removing limits in both ocean areas and on federal lands, President Trump and his team could spur creation of many thousands of well-paying jobs and increased production of vitally needed oil and gas.

No doubt environmental groups will fight hard against such moves.

Source: The Daily Caller