Alabama Oil and Gas Update

The following cases are but two of many lawsuits filed by environmental groups challenging offshore oil and gas leasing, exploration, and development in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion and oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The first case, filed in Alabama district court, involves agency approvals of lease sales that began shortly before and continued during and after the Deepwater Horizon incident, prior to concluding the environmental reviews of the specific impacts of the Deepwater Horizon spill. The second case, filed in the Eleventh Circuit, challenges a later phase agency approval of an exploration plan under similar circumstances.