Letter to President Trump re Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)
Monday, January 23, 2017
The President of the United States
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Mr. President:
For decades, the energy industry operating in the Gulf of Mexico has produced more than 90 percent of our domestic offshore oil and natural gas. Louisiana has been at the forefront of this work. However, the unelected bureaucracy within President Obama's administration created an agenda that has left America's domestic energy production at a significant competitive disadvantage. Within the past two years alone, more than 140 rules and regulations directly impacting the oil and gas industry have been issued, in many cases with little to no public input. As a result, reports show that Louisiana alone has lost over 25,000 jobs in the past two years. With your leadership, we can change this situation and bring back those good paying jobs, which is the purpose of my letter to you today.
Last summer, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) at the Department of the Interior published a Notice to Lessees (NTL 2016-N0l) that sets new standards for financial assurance and bonding requirements. These new requirements mandate unreasonable increases in capital for companies attempting to obtain offshore leases, which will inevitably bankrupt smaller operators and encourage larger ones to relocate. The current proposal is simply unworkable and creates a financial strain on companies with unresolved questions. I respectfully ask you to direct BOEM to rescind NTL 2016-N0l and have it work with industry leaders, both large and small, to develop an appropriate solution.
As you said last Friday in your inaugural address, "We've enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry..." That couldn't be more true with regard to our energy sector and, specifically, the application of this Notice to Lessees. It's time that policies from unelected bureaucrats with extreme viewpoints be swept away so that we can put the American people back to work and make us less dependent on energy from the Middle East.
Thank you for your leadership. I look forward to working with you to advance the American people's agenda.
Sincerely,
John Kennedy, United State Senator