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The
moves mark a shift for the U.S. Department of Interior, which
had proceeded with a slew of oil and gas lease sales on public
lands earlier this year as the outbreak of the coronavirus
caused energy prices to crash.
Drilling on federal lands is a crucial part of President Donald
Trump's "energy dominance" agenda to maximize domestic
production of fossil fuels.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the arm of the Interior
Department that oversees lease sales, postponed a sale of seven
oil and gas leases on more than 10,000 acres in Nevada that had
been scheduled for June 9. It is also delaying the sale of two
parcels on 88 acres in Mississippi that had been expected on
June 18, according to the online auction platform EnergyNet.
A Utah sale of four parcels on more than 4,000 acres scheduled
for next week was also removed from the EnergyNet's calendar.
BLM officials in Utah had not initiated a 10-day public protest
period required before a sale may proceed.
BLM officials did not respond to questions about the status of
the sales.
Last month, the administration abruptly postponed an auction of
oil and gas leases in New Mexico without providing a reason. It
would have been the first government oil and gas auction since
U.S. crude oil futures briefly plunged below zero for the first
time in history in April.
BLM offices in two other states - Wyoming and Colorado - still
have lease sales scheduled for late June.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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