By Jennifer A. Dlouhy (Bloomberg)
The Biden administration has issued at least 31 new drilling permits authorizing operations on federal land and coastal waters, despite an order putting political appointees in charge of the decisions.
The move signals those drilling authorizations are continuing to flow, despite President Joe Biden’s plan to pause oil and gas leasing and a Jan. 20 order temporarily putting decisions about oil and gas permits, mining operations, hiring and other matters in the hands of top Interior Department officials.
The order provoked alarm across the oil industry, as energy companies worried they wouldn’t get approval to drill new wells or swift approval to amend permits for ongoing drilling operations.