Drill more, mine more on public lands, US interior secretary urges

By Timothy Gardner

HOUSTON (Reuters) -U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum told a packed room of energy executives on Wednesday that he wants their industries to ramp up drilling and mining on America's public lands, telling the crowd: "We love you!".

Burgum's comments to the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston underscored the agenda of President Donald Trump, a Republican, to unfetter fossil fuels and metals production by slashing as much red tape as possible.

"If we're going to drill, baby, drill, then we've got to be asked to also mine, baby, mine," Burgum, a former governor of the oil-producing state North Dakota, told the crowd.

He said royalty payments to the government from drillers and miners operating federal lands and in U.S. waters will help pay down the national debt.

Oil and gas drillers operating on federal lands paid about $75 billion from 2012 to 2022, according to the Government Accountability Office. The national debt, by comparison, is now about $36.2 trillion.

U.S. oil and gas production struck record highs under the administration of former President Joe Biden, a Democrat, and it was unclear if energy companies are keen to ramp up investment with oil prices plumbing three-year lows last week.

Burgum said he believes the Trump administration can unwind between 20% and 30% of the country's regulations, and estimated that doing so could sharply cut the cost of producing oil.

He added that speeding up energy and mining project permitting would be a crucial focus of the administration's National Energy Dominance Council, which he chairs and which is responsible for coordinating government policies to maximize production.

Burgum said boosting U.S. electricity generation and transmission capacity is key to winning what he called the "AI arms race" with China.

Burgum added that he believes enforcing sanctions on Iran, which are designed to bring the OPEC member's oil exports to zero, could end that country's funding of "terror groups."

MINERALS

Burgum added that the council is focused on boosting U.S. production of critical minerals, which include lithium and nickel. He said the council has “really big, really powerful” ideas to boost U.S. mining, including using the planned U.S. sovereign wealth fund and better coordinating with allies.

He did not directly say whether the wealth fund would invest in mines, although he underscored the country’s reliance on China, the dominant minerals processor globally.

“We put ourselves in a position of incredible risk, where we've allowed ourselves to have a major competitor control 80% of the processing for critical minerals,” said Burgum.

Reuters reported on Monday that Trump is considering an executive order that would build metals refining facilities on Pentagon military bases as part of his plan to boost domestic production.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner; additional reporting by Ernest Scheyder, Editing by Leslie Adler and David Gregorio)