A federal court has granted the American Petroleum Institute’s request to scrap its lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s five-year plan for offshore oil and gas development.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit approved the trade group’s request Wednesday, just days before the court is set to hear oral arguments on the Interior Department’s plan to hold three offshore auctions from 2024 to 2029. API said this week it no longer needs to pursue its legal claim after the Trump administration announced it would revisit the leasing plan.
The appeals court’s May 6 hearing is still set to continue, with adjusted argument times, as API’s challenge had been consolidated with another lawsuit led by the environmental group Healthy Gulf.
That lawsuit takes the opposite position from the fossil fuel trade group, which had asserted that the Biden administration had failed to offer sufficient offshore auctions.
