Biden To Tell Big Oil To Use It Or Lose It On Federal Leases

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:50 pm

President Biden is going to urge Congress to impose what is essentially a use it or lose it policy on Big Oil regarding federal leases.

According to a White House Fact Sheet provided to PoliticusUSA:

The fact is that there is nothing standing in the way of domestic oil production. The United States is already approaching record levels of oil and natural gas production. There are oil companies that are doing the right thing and committing to ramp up production now. Right now, domestic production is expected to increase by 1 million barrels per day this year and nearly 700,000 barrels per day next year.

Still, too many companies aren’t doing their part and are choosing to make extraordinary profits and without making additional investment to help with supply. One CEO even acknowledged that, even if the price goes to $200 a barrel, they’re not going to step up production.

Right now, the oil and gas industry is sitting on more than 12 million acres of non-producing Federal land with 9,000 unused but already-approved permits for production. Today, President Biden is calling on Congress to make companies pay fees on wells from their leases that they haven’t used in years and on acres of public lands that they are hoarding without producing. Companies that are producing from their leased acres and existing wells will not face higher fees. But companies that continue to sit on non-producing acres will have to choose whether to start producing or pay a fee for each idled well and unused acre.

Since the United States government is not in the energy extraction business, the US can’t extract the oil themselves, so it must pressure the oil companies to stop hoarding potential production on federal land and start drilling for more oil.

Democrats in Congress want a use it or lose it policy, and the President is trying to take the incentive away from oil companies to not use their permits.

Any oil extracted domestically doesn’t have to stay in the United States. It belongs to the oil companies and will be sold on the global market.

Biden is trying to create more supply to lower prices and tackle inflation.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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