Feds seek public input on pending oil and gas lease sales

The oil and gas industry, as of September 2021, held more than 9,600 onshore federal oil and gas permits while the BLM was still processing 4,400 additional permit applications to drill federal parcels under contract — more than enough to support robust drilling programs, according to a November 2021 Interior Department report. Industry officials insist they need a surplus of permitted federal lease parcels to fund drilling programs, but the practice threatens to prioritize future drilling over other uses for those public lands, according to the Interior.