Oil production on public lands exceeds 1 billion barrels

U.S. oil production on public lands hit more than 1 billion barrels last year, a nearly 30 percent increase over production at the end of the Obama administration.

The billion barrel figure for fiscal 2019 is the highest the Department of the Interior has seen over the last decade.

Interior, which manages public lands, credited executive orders from President Trump calling for energy independence and greater offshore drilling for creating “a blueprint for the Department” and helping to speed permitting.

“These actions have helped to propel secure and reliable American energy on public lands and waters,” Interior wrote in a release.

Oil production on public lands dipped during the middle of the Obama administration but has been steadily increasing since fiscal 2013.

“Instead of announcing how much land has been preserved or how much our climate emissions have gone down, this president only brags about how much oil is being pumped out of our public lands on his watch. These numbers are not making our energy supply more sustainable – they’re just padding Big Oil’s bottom line,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl Grijalva (D-A.Z.).