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Of the 2,206 active leases in the Gulf of Mexico, only a fifth are producing oil, according to records from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which regulates offshore drilling. Oil industry executives and analysts say the current number of 448 oil-producing leases is unlikely to grow significantly, even if Trump makes good on promises to expand leasing opportunities and expedite drilling permits.

The market is saturated with oil, making companies reluctant to spend more money drilling because the added product will likely push prices down, cutting into profits.

“It’s not the regulations that are getting in the way, it’s the economics,” said Hugh Daigle, a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Texas in Austin. “It’s true that there are a bunch of undeveloped leases in the Gulf, and it’ll stay that way if we continue to see low or stagnant oil prices.”

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A court [in the UK] has ruled that consent for two new Scottish oil and gas fields was granted unlawfully and their owners must seek fresh approval from the UK government before production can begin.

The written judgement on the Rosebank and Jackdaw fields [off Shetland] came after a case brought by environmental campaigners, Uplift and Greenpeace, at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

In his judgement, Lord Ericht said a more detailed assessment of the fields' environmental impact was required, taking into account the effect on the climate of burning any fossil fuels extracted.

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Shell's Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea was originally approved by the previous UK Conservative government, and the industry regulator, in summer 2022.

Permission for the Rosebank oil development, 80 miles west of Shetland in the North Atlantic, was granted in autumn 2023.

In a 57-page judgement, Lord Ericht wrote that there was a public interest in having the decision "remade on a lawful basis" because of the effects of climate change - which he said outweighed the interests of the developers.

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Today, the United States Senate voted to confirm former Congressman Lee Zeldin as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, despite his lack of any real qualifications for the role. In his final year in Congress in 2022, Zeldin earned a paltry 5% on the League of Conservation Voters scorecard, which tracks the voting records of members of congress on critical environmental issues.

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