Mike Sommers, chief executive officer of the American Petroleum Institute, got the whirlwind tour of Louisiana last week, meeting with membership companies and politicians who are vying to sway the Biden administration towards softening what they consider abrupt policies against fossil fuels, reports the Baton Rouge Advocate.
Sommers’ top concern is that a temporary ban on federal leases onshore and offshore won’t be lifted, ever. While it doesn’t impact the ability for companies to operate on private land, the environmental stewardship push now may stunt the industry for decades to come, he says. API’s members include Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron and BP, among others on the extraction and refinery side of the petrochemical pipeline.
The long-term impact for the oil and gas sector in the Gulf of Mexico is unclear. All oil and gas exploration offshore are federal waters, requiring leases auctioned off and royalties collected in exchange for extraction of public natural resources. See the full story.
