FILE - Pump jacks work in a field near Lovington, N.M., April 24, 2015. Oil and gas companies will have to pay more to drill on public lands and satisfy stronger requirements to clean up old or abandoned wells under a final rule issued Friday, April 12, 2024, by the Biden administration. The Interior Department rule does not go so far as to prohibit new oil and gas leasing on public lands, as many environmental groups have urged and as President Joe Biden promised during the 2020 campaign.
“These are the most significant reforms to the federal oil and gas leasing program in decades, and they will cut wasteful speculation, increase returns for the public and protect taxpayers from being saddled with the costs of environmental cleanups,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said. Haaland and other officials said the new rule provides a fair return to taxpayers and focuses oil and gas leasing in areas that are the most likely to be developed, especially those with existing infrastructure and high oil and gas potential. The rule will ease pressure to develop areas that contain sensitive wildlife habitat, cultural resources or recreation sites, officials said.
The rule also would increase the minimum leasing bond paid by energy companies to $150,000, compared with the previous $10,000 established in 1960. The higher bonding requirement is intended to ensure that companies meet their obligations to clean up drilling sites after they are done or cap wells that are abandoned.