Four days after the end of the 26e United Nations climate conference (COP26), the United States has sold dozens of new oil exploration permits in the Gulf of Mexico. The resulting projects could lead to the exploitation of various deposits for decades to come.
According to data released by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the auction held on Wednesday sold new exploration permits totaling 6,879 km2, which generated almost US $ 192 million in revenue.
According to preliminary estimates, the projects resulting from this auction could lead to the exploitation of hundreds of millions of barrels of oil and several billion cubic feet of natural gas over the next 50 years.
Some 33 companies participated in the auctions, including Exxon, Shell, Equinor and Repsol. It should be noted that the BP oil company, responsible for the worst oil spill in American history, obtained 46 permits out of the 47 for which it had tried its luck.
The permits that have been sold relate to several areas of the Gulf of Mexico and very variable depths, in some cases areas over 3,000 meters deep. According to what BOEM clarified in a press release, the exploration projects that will result from it must be carried out in such a way as to “protect biologically sensitive resources” and reduce the repercussions on protected species.
File in Court
Joe Biden had promised during the election campaign to put an end to the sales of exploration permits in the territories of federal jurisdiction, before imposing a moratorium in early 2021, while an environmental assessment is carried out.
However, this decision has been challenged in court by 13 states, which believe Washington has exceeded its powers. In June, a Louisiana federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump ruled in their favor. This is what paved the way for the auctioning of new permits in this region, which already has a lot of permits.
The Gulf of Mexico was the scene in 2010 of an imposing oil spill, during the explosion of the exploration drilling platform Deepwater Horizon, of the oil company BP. The accident spilled more than five million barrels of crude oil in five months. This oil spill had consequences on the Gulf ecosystem, but also on the coasts of several states and on the fishing industry.
Oil and the climate crisis
Even though the Biden government has appealed the court decision that allowed this new sale of exploration permits, environmental organizations have denounced this open door to an increase in the use of fossil fuels, at a time when the climate crisis is more severe than ever.
“This sale is deeply disappointing. The Biden government has bowed to the oil industry by relying on its campaign of disinformation and political pressure, ignoring the growing climate emergency we are grappling with, ”lamented the organization Earthjustice, which disputes the decision in court.
According to the International Energy Agency, we should immediately abandon any new project for the exploration and exploitation of fossil fuels in the hope of limiting global warming to a safe threshold.
However, the production of fossil fuels planned for the coming years is far too high for us to be able to hope to limit global warming to a viable threshold, concluded in October an analysis drafted in particular by UN experts.
More specifically, the major producing countries plan to use around 110% more fossil fuels in 2030 than what would be consistent with the most ambitious objective of the Paris Agreement, namely that of limiting global warming to 1.5. ° C compared to the pre-industrial era. This same production would be 45% higher than what would not exceed a global warming of 2 ° C.