Petroleum Association: Biden’s executive orders costing immediate revenue losses for Wyoming companies

(The Center Square) – Wyoming’s oil and gas production will decline by 28% by 2030 and 43% by 2050 under President Joe Biden’s executive orders declaring a moratorium on oil and gas leasing and permitting on federal land, a new analysis from the University of Wyoming (UW) determined.

Generated in association with the Wyoming Energy Authority, the analysis was produced in response to an executive order from Gov. Mark Gordonto to study the effects of Biden’s orders.

A permanent ban could create “significant potential impacts” on Wyoming’s economy, the study found.

Ryan McConnaughey, communications director for the Petroleum Association of Wyoming (PAW), explained the reason the study looked at a permanent ban rather than temporary moratoriums.

“What we know is as a candidate, President Biden, then-candidate Biden, talked about the fact that he would like to see all federal oil and gas production be stopped, and so we know that is ultimately their end game,” McConnaughey told The Center Square. “So despite these temporary bans being in place, we know that they have planned to try to permanently end all production on federal lands.”

The UW study says a permanent ban would do nothing to help the U.S. reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

McConnaughey points out these bans do nothing to reduce demand for petroleum products, and the study recognizes this as well. He said it suggests there would actually be an increase in greenhouse gases from limiting the U.S.’s ability to supply.

“That product will have to come from somewhere, which if we’re banning federal development that probably means importing from other countries,” McConnaughey said. “From our standpoint, we would much rather see it produced locally, closer to the end user, which would be more beneficial in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”

Biden’s orders also took permitting control away from local offices in the states and concentrated it in a single office in Washington, which McConnaughey said is a huge issue.

“The delays on some of these very routine and minor changes to lease applications all being done through one person in Washington, D.C. has really slowed down the ability to produce at this time,” McConnaughey said.

One PAW member pointed out the ensuing bottleneck is hurting capital investment that has already been made, according to McConnaughey.

“That represents real, immediate loss of dollars for these companies,” McConnaughey said.

As far as the economic impacts of the temporary pause go, McConnaughey said it’s much harder to measure because those effects are reported months down the line.

“We have obviously seen some drop in production, we see rig drops, a number of rigs in Wyoming, but a lot of this will be more long-term,” McConnaughey said. “You look at, for instance, the ban on lease sales: one, that will have an immediate impact on school funding because those lease sales help fund schools, but then it’s the long-term ability to produce.”

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