American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2022 - 18

IndustryDigest
federal oil and gas leases issued in
Lease Sale 257 on the grounds that
BLM's greenhouse gas emissions
impact assessment was inadequate
(AOGR, February 2022, pg. 14).
According to press accounts, the U.S.
Department of Interior stated in a Feb. 28
court filing that a negative court decision
about its social cost of carbon metrics
prevents it from holding federal lease
sales (see story page 83). " The absolute
earliest a new Lease Sale 257 could occur
is July 2, " the department is quoted. Press
accounts also note that the Biden
administration has filed documents saying
it will not appeal the Jan. 27 ruling.
Senator John Barrasso, R-Wy.,
laments the administration's leasing
torpor. " The Biden administration
continues to defy the courts and the law.
The BLM has blown past a critical
deadline required to hold the first federal
onshore oil and gas lease sale this year, "
Barrasso asserts. " Even in the face of a
global energy crisis, historic inflation
and skyrocketing gasoline prices, the
Biden administration continues to crush
U.S. energy production. "
From 2015 to 2020, lease auction
revenues in Wyoming totaled $474
million and averaged $79 million a year,
PAW tallies. With the federal
government returning 48% of those
revenues to the state, Wyoming's annual
share averaged $37.9 million. Utilizing
these averages, PAW estimates that since
January of 2021, the federal government
has shortchanged the people of
Wyoming out of more than $47 million.
Based on the state's funding
formulas, PAW says the lost revenue has
taken:
· $18.5 million from Wyoming's
general fund;
· $21.5 million from K-12 public
education;
· $6 million from public
infrastructure;
· $1.4 million from municipalities;
and
· $990,000 from the University of
Wyoming. ❒
U.S. Supreme Court
Opts Not To Hear
Appeal Over DAPL
WASHINGTON-By refusing to hear
an appeal of a lower court decision that
requires a more extensive environmental
18 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER
review, the U.S. Supreme Court in
February has kept the Dakota Access
Pipeline's long-term fate in legal limbo,
press accounts observe.
Nevertheless, the 750,000-barrel-aday
pipeline that begins in North
Dakota's Bakken and Three Forks
formations and ends near Patoka, Il,
continues to operate because of a
decision last summer by Federal Judge
James Boasberg (AOGR, September
2021, pg. 18).
The case originated in an easement
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
granted to Dakota Access LLC in 2017
to cross the Missouri River. However, in
2020, a federal judge sided with the
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and
withdrew the project's permit for
inadequate environmental review. That
ruling was upheld by the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit before being appealed to the
Supreme Court. ❒
BlackRock Assurances
Fail To Encourage
Key State Officials
NEW YORK-After years of touting
its commitment to climate-focused
investment strategies, BlackRock Inc.,
the world's largest asset manager, is
extolling its extensive holdings in oil
and natural gas companies and stating
that it is not boycotting nor divesting
from hydrocarbons.
The assurances, which were issued
in January but garnered media attention
in February, have surfaced as Texas
works to implement SB 13, which
prohibits financial firms that divest out
of, boycott or sanction the fossil fuel
industry from doing business with the
state of Texas.
" For over 30 years, BlackRock has
been a significant investor and capital
provider to energy companies, including
fossil fuel companies, on behalf of our
clients, " the firm states. " We will continue
to invest in and support fossil fuel
companies, including Texas fossil fuel
companies. Importantly, we believe the
experience, expertise and scale of fossil
fuel companies will be integral to future
energy solutions. As such, we have not
and will not boycott energy companies. "
Nevertheless, Texas Lieutenant
Governor Dan Patrick says BlackRock
belongs atop the list of firms barred
from handling state accounts. In a letter
to Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar,
Patrick cites comments from BlackRock
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Larry Fink that seem to contradict the
firm's pro-oil-and-gas assurances and
his repeated invocation of BlackRock's
commitment to steer clear of companies
that do not plan to cancel out their
greenhouse gas emissions through " net
zero " policies.
" It is highly inconsistent to claim
support for Texas' oil and gas energy
industry while leading a net zero policy
effort that will destroy the oil and gas
industry and destabilize the economy
worldwide, " Patrick maintains.
" According to SB 13, a company is
considered to be boycotting an energy
company if it limits relations with an
entity involved in the fossil fuel-based
energy sector if the entity 'does not
commit or pledge to meet environmental
standards beyond applicable federal and
state law.' Committing to a net zero
carbon strategy is beyond applicable
environmental standards in federal and
state law. Therefore, BlackRock is
boycotting energy companies by basing
investment decisions on whether a
company pledges to meet BlackRock's
net zero goals. "
BlackRock notes that it holds $259
billion in assets invested in fossil fuel
companies, including $91 billion in
Texas fossil fuel companies, and says
those holdings possibly make it the
world's largest investor in fossil fuel
companies. It also cites a handful of
quotes from Fink, including,
" Hydrocarbon companies are part of the
solution not the problem . . . If we are
still going to be dependent on gas and
oil for a certain period, we need to be
thoughtful about working with
hydrocarbon companies instead of
asking a (Persian) Gulf country to raise
its production. "
While BlackRock seeks to avoid
Texas' blacklist, press accounts note
that West Virginia's Board of Treasury
Investments already has dropped
BlackRock money market funds from
its portfolio.
" As the state's chief financial officer
and chairman of the Board of Treasury
Investments, I have a duty to ensure that
taxpayer dollars are managed in a
responsible, financially sound fashion
which reflects the best interests of our
state and country, and I believe doing
American Oil and Gas Reporter - March 2022

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