BATON ROUGE, La (BRPROUD) — U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras invalidated the largest offshore oil and gas lease sale in the nation’s history by canceling 1.7 million acres of drilling leases.
One of President Biden’s first actions in office was to ban new oil and gas drilling on lands and waters owned by the federal government. But after a Louisiana judge struck down the moratorium last summer, administration officials said they were forced to go through with the sale in November.
Louisiana Oil & Gas Association President Mike Moncla released the following statement:
“Judge Contreras’ decision to ‘throw out’ the last lease sale is disappointing for industry, but even a bigger blow to the American consumer. This administration continues to make decisions that increase energy costs on Americans. In just one year in office, President Biden’s energy policies (or lack thereof) have more than doubled oil, natural gas and gasoline prices. LOGA will continue to fight for actual policy that puts Americans to work while also providing affordable, reliable, and abundant energy to our nation.”