President Joe Biden signed a number of Executive Orders on Jan. 27 that includes taking action on international efforts to combat climate change, including those relating to decarbonizing shipping. One of the EOs directs Secretary of the Interior to pause on entering into new oil and natural gas leases on public lands or offshore waters, launch a review of all existing leasing and permitting practices related to fossil fuel development on public lands and waters, and identify steps that can be taken to double renewable energy production from offshore wind by 2030. There may be a pause on new O&G lease sales, that doesn’t mean a shift end to offshore drilling. A DoI fact sheet notes that there are 12M acres of public waters under lease, over 77% are unused and non-producing. Under the previous administration, more than 78M were offered for lease to oil, gas, and mineral development offshore, and only 5M were purchased. Still, nobody in the offshore O&G sector, including offshore support businesses, isn’t going to be gleeful with the idea of a moratorium on new leases. (Source: Marine Log 01/28/21) Biden actions on climate change have big implications across maritime sector - Marine Log
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