Today’s Key Takeaways: Long-term schedule for Alaska’s offshore lease sales announced. From Alaska with Love: 5 sanctioned Russian LNG carriers sailed during Trump-Putin meeting. Appeals court halts land transfer for copper mine. I-told-you-so oil industry moment in CA.
Oil:
Interior Dept. unveils Alaska, Gulf of Mexico oil drilling lease timeline
Chris Benson, UPI, August 19, 2025
The U.S. Department of the Interior on Tuesday unveiled its long-term schedule for new Alaskan and Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas leases that are part of President Donald Trump‘s recently signed legislation called the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
The first sale on December 10 will be the start to a minimum of 30 by March 2040 for the gulf and six sales by 2032 for Alaska’s Cook Inlet along Alaska’s south-central coast near Anchorage.
Gas:
From Alaska With Love: Russia’s Shadow LNG Fleet Set Sail for China As Trump-Putin Summit Unfolded
Malte Humpert, gCaptain, August 18, 2025
Five sanctioned LNG carriers, part of Russia’s shadow fleet, got underway as the Trump-Putin meeting took place in Alaska, or changed course in the hours that followed.
The vessels had remained idle for extended periods of time, loaded with stranded liquefied natural gas from Russia’s sanctioned Arctic LNG 2 project.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment if Presidents Trump and Putin discussed the matter of Russian LNG during their meeting in Anchorage. Reuters reported earlier that the US has had internal discussions ahead of the summit about using Russian nuclear-powered icebreakers in support of the planned $44bn Alaska LNG project.
Mining:
Trump blasts appeals court for halting Resolution Copper land transfer
Reuters, August 19, 2025
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized an appeals court’s decision to temporarily block federal officials from completing a land transfer needed for Rio Tinto and BHP to develop Arizona’s Resolution Copper project.
Trump’s post on his Truth Social platform came after he and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum met at the White House with the CEOs of Rio and BHP, two of the world’s largest mining companies, which have been trying to develop Resolution for more than a decade.
The San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Monday that the transfer – which had been slated for Tuesday – should be halted while the court weighs a request from the San Carlos Apache tribe to block the project for religious, cultural and environmental reasons.
It was only the second time any court has ruled in favor of the Apache or their allies in more than five years of myriad legal maneuvers against Resolution, slated to become one of the world’s largest supplies of a metal used to build nearly every electronic device.
Trump called the court a “radical left court” and said that those who oppose the mine “are Anti-American, and representing other copper competitive Countries.”
“It is so sad that Radical Left Activists can do this, and affect the lives of so many people,” Trump said in the post. “We can’t continue to allow this to happen to the USA!”
Trump did not outline any actions he plans to take to sway the court, but said that “our Country, quite simply, needs Copper — AND NOW!” He did not provide evidence for his claims about the court and opponents of the project.
Politics:
Gavin Newsom warms to Big Oil in climate reversal
Alexei Koseff, Alejandro Lazo and Maya C. Miller, CalMatters, August 18, 2025
After years of cracking down on California’s oil industry, Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative Democrats are moving to get Kern County wells pumping again to avoid soaring gasoline prices.
The oil industry is having an I-told-you-so moment in California.
For decades, the state has raced to end its reliance on fossil fuels and prioritize clean energy. Its relationship with oil companies became particularly contentious in the past two years, as Gov. Gavin Newsom and Democratic legislators held two special sessions to crack down on alleged price gouging at the pump.
But now two of its last remaining fuel refineries are closing sooner than California expected, tossing a simmering emergency into officials’ laps. With a hotly debated forecast that $8-per-gallon gasoline might be on the horizon, there has been a remarkable shift at the state Capitol. Led by Newsom, who just last fall was lambasting oil companies for “screwing” consumers, California may soon let its black gold flow again.
“We are all the beneficiaries of oil and gas. No one’s naive about that,” Newsom said at a press conference last month. “So it’s always been about finding a just transition, a pragmatism in terms of that process.”