SE Wyoming News

U.S. Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, both Republicans from Wyoming, have joined forces with Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) and eight other colleagues to introduce a Congressional Review Act resolution. This resolution aims to overturn the Bureau of Land Management’s Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process rule. The rule is set to significantly increase royalties, rates, minimum bids, and costs for oil and gas producers on federal lands. It is anticipated that this will negatively impact energy production in Wyoming.

"President Biden is doing everything he can to end oil and natural gas production on federal lands," said Barrasso. "The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) latest oil and gas rule imposes steep costs on producers, making it economically impossible to produce energy on BLM lands. Less oil and natural gas from federal lands means fewer jobs for Americans and more money to the Middle East, Venezuela, Russia, and Iran. Our legislation will force the Biden administration to reverse course and finally unleash American energy production."

Lummis echoed these sentiments: "Producers in Wyoming and throughout the west are already struggling under the tsunami of regulations and fees that have been thrown at them by the Biden administration," she said. "While another fee on domestic producers will increase the cost of operating and push some out of business, it will not change the need for energy in this country. When it is more expensive to produce energy domestically, our adversaries like Russia and Iran benefit and U.S. consumers are forced to pay more at the pump."

The proposed legislation has garnered support from several U.S senators including Jim Risch (R-ID), John Hoeven (R-ND), Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Mike Lee (R-UT), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Ted Cruz (R-TX).

The Fluid Mineral Leases and Leasing Process rule is part of President Joe Biden’s Green New Deal-inspired regulatory agenda, which has reportedly caused gas prices to increase by more than 50% since he took office.