"Its unacceptable that agency miscalculations have restricted access to safe, secure & reliable domestic oil and gas production through substantial, unnecessary, and arbitrary permitting delays."
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — Senator Ted Cruz, along with 19 of his fellow Senators, are calling for President Biden’s Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to bring additional oil and gas production online from existing offshore federal leases by quickly issuing the permits required – and which are currently being delayed by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) she oversees to. These permits are .
The Senators sent a letter to Secretary Raimondo noting that the delays are principally due to “three administration-made and admitted mistakes” caused by mathematic errors in calculating the number of endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico in a 2021 Final Rule governing offshore oil and gas exploration based on those faulty calculations.The senators called on Secretary Raimondo to “expeditiously correct these errors by putting in place … tangible short-term solutions to stop any further permitting delays.”
This would include, the Senators noted:
This would include, the Senators noted:
- An "Interim Rule" allowing Oil & Gas Lease Permitting to continue,
- Expeditiously issuing a new Final Rule to correct the miscalculations, and
- Shifting resources to process permits under alternative mechanisms.
"It is unacceptable that agency miscalculations have restricted access to safe, secure, and reliable domestic oil and gas production through substantial, unnecessary, and arbitrary permitting delays."
"While the Biden Administration and Members of Congress fault the domestic oil and gas industry for sitting idle on over 9,000 drilling permits and millions of acres in “inactive leases”, NMFS’s permitting delays represent one example of the Administration’s de facto ban on new drilling – impeding domestic oil and gas investment, exploration, and production.
The other Senators joining Sen. Cruz in the letter are:
- John Cornyn (R-Texas)
- John Barrasso (Wyo.)
- Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)
- Roy Blunt (R-Mo.)
- Bill Cassidy (R-La.)
- Steve Daines (R-Mont.)
- Cindy Hyde-Smith (Miss.)
- James Inhofe (R-Okla.)
- John Kennedy (R-La.)
- James Lankford (Okla.)
- Mike Lee (R-Utah)
- Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.)
- Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.)
- Jerry Moran (R-Kan.)
- Richard Shelby (R-Ala.)
- Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska)
- John Thune (R-S.D.)
Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and- Roger Wicker (R-Miss.)
Hailing that April 27th, 2022 agreement as “a tremendous victory for Texans, American jobs, trade and our European allies who will now have greater access to our clean natural gas exports.,' Cruz said he would release a Senate hold on Brad Crabtree, President Biden's nominee to be Assistant Energy Secretary for Fossil Energy & Carbon Management.
- Read the Senator's entire letter HERE.
