U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

09/24/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/24/2024 13:47

Barrasso Blasts Biden-Harris Administration Over Third Quarter Oil and Natural Gas Lease Sale

Barrasso Blasts Biden-Harris Administration Over Third Quarter Oil and Natural Gas Lease Sale

September 24, 2024

WASHINGTON, DC- Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), released a statement in advance of the Department of the Interior's (DOI) September 25, 2024 oil and natural gas lease sale in Wyoming. DOI is offering a record low number of acres for lease at the sale. <_o3a_p>

"The Biden-Harris administration continues to wage war on Wyoming. With millions of acres available for oil and gas leasing, the Department of the Interior is offering a historic low of just 159 acres in the state. Their proposal is an utter disgrace and makes a mockery of federal law. This latest attack puts Wyoming jobs at risk and starves our state of important revenue for public education, roads and bridges, and other services. We need to unleash American energy - not choke off its production," said Senator Barrasso. <_o3a_p>

From 2009 through 2019, under both Democrat and Republican administrations, the Department of the Interior leased an average of 4.99 million acres a year nationally. In the last two years of the Biden-Harris administration, that number has drastically fallen to 211,000 acres. <_o3a_p>