Biden Administration to Hold First Onshore Oil, Gas Lease Sale

The U.S. Interior Department this week will hold its first onshore oil and gas auctions since President Joe Biden took office, a setback to his administration's early efforts to end federal drilling to fight climate change.

The lease sales will run June 29-30 and will cover more than 140,000 acres (570 sq km) across eight Western states, posing a test of the drilling industry's demand for new prospects at a time of soaring global energy prices.

Over 90% of the acreage will be in big oil producing state Wyoming, with the rest sprinkled across Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Utah.