WYOMING – Gov. Mark Gordon both issued statements last week after receiving news the Bureau of Land Management will not hold its second-quarter oil and gas lease sale.

“The announcement by the Bureau of Land Management to not hold the second quarter oil and gas lease sale due to an ongoing review ordered by President Biden is disappointing, disheartening and not surprising. Federal reviews of anything typically take months, and sometimes years,” Gov. Gordon’s statement read. “What is most disappointing is that the Department of Interior could have chosen to review the federal oil and gas leasing program while conducting quarterly sales. Instead they chose to tighten the financial choke of revenue that would normally flow to the state from lease sales, all the while refraining from consulting with the very states and communities that are directly impacted by these decisions.”

Gordon also said that Wyoming has received about $35 million annually, on average, from oil and gas lease sales on federal lands over the past eight years.

So far this year, Wyoming hasn’t collected anything because of the haults.

Wyoming recently joined a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its leasing moratorium, claiming it is illegal.

Sen. John Barrasso issued a statement while on the floor of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

“President Biden is continuing his war on Wyoming and the West by canceling a second round of oil and gas lease sales,” he said. “The Bureau of Land Management is legally required to hold lease sales on a quarterly basis, but the Biden administration continues to cater to the Green New Deal crowd.

“In Wyoming, we use federal energy revenues to fund our public schools. The first canceled lease sale cost our schools an estimated $4 million. Biden is ripping opportunities away from our kids and threatening our nation’s energy security. The president is handing win after win to Russia, who will produce and export more energy to fill the void created by the Biden administration. I will keep fighting for Wyoming’s energy workers and American families who need affordable energy. These lease sales should be reinstated immediately.”

Barrasso has invited Gov. Gordon to testify before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on the leasing moratorium’s impact upon Wyoming. Gordon is scheduled to appear before that committee sometime this week.