Oct 5, 2019

Trump admin opens 720,000 acres of land in California for oil drilling

Rashaan Ayesh

Oil rig pump jacks work the oil fields near the town of Maricopa, Calif. in March 2013. Photo: Al Seib/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced on Friday plans to open about 720,000 acres of land in California’s central coast to oil and gas lease sales.

Why it matters: New federal land has not been freed up for fossil fuel extraction in the region since at least 2013, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Environmentalists say new oil rigs will hurt California's land and water and contribute to climate change. However, the Interior Department claims the expansion will help ensure the U.S. achieves energy independence and economic growth.

  • Some environmentalists are threatening to go to court over this decision.
  • BLM says, "The decision does not authorize any actual drilling for exploration or development of oil and gas resources."

Flashback: Two conservation groups sued the Interior Department nearly 6 years ago for failing to consider at the environmental impacts of fracking, per the Chronicle.

Details: Friday's decision immediately green-lights 14 drilling leases in San Benito, Monterey and Fresno counties. Each of those projects has been long-desired by fossil fuel companies interested in expanding, writes the Chronicle.

  • In total, the decision to move forward with the leasing plan makes 11 counties available for energy development.As a result, BLM officials estimate as many as 37 new oil and gas wells will be developed over the next 20 years.
  • Between state and private lands in the area, the region already has more than 18,000 wells, according to federal figures the Chronicle cited.
  • In a press release, BLM said it plans to support "recovery of threatened and endangered plants and animals."
  • There will not be any leases on designated BLM wilderness.

Thought bubble per Axios' Amy Harder: This is sure to further inflame already tense relations between the Trump administration and California, which are already fighting over the state’s ability to issue tougher fuel efficiency standards.

Go deeper: How the U.S. oil boom echoes through the economy

Go deeper

Amy Harder

Big oil R&D in clean tech is hard to pin down

Data: BloombergNEF; Chart: Naema Ahmed/Axios

How much research and development big oil companies are putting into cleantech is one of the few concrete metrics to gauge the industry’s varying shifts toward cleaner energy.

Between the lines: Pinning that figure down is tricky because many companies don’t disclose and even those that do use definitions that vary widely for what constitutes cleaner energy or low-carbon.

Go deeperArrowOct 15, 2019
Amy Harder

To meet climate goals, oil producers must slash production

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

The world's biggest publicly traded oil and natural gas companies would have to cut production by roughly a third on average by 2040 to meet the goals of the Paris climate deal, according to a new report.

The big picture: The opposite is occurring. Most oil and gas producers are expanding production in response to growing demand and the fact that the world is not on track to meet the Paris ambitions.

Go deeperArrowNov 1, 2019
Amy Harder

Why some in Big Oil are looking to go big in offshore wind

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

Big oil and gas producers might finally have found a renewable energy they can fully embrace--largely because it has a lot in common with oil and gas.

Driving the news: Up to 40% of the costs of offshore wind, including construction and maintenance of massive structures, overlap with offshore oil industry costs, a new International Energy Agency report finds.

Go deeperArrowOct 30, 2019 - Energy & Environment