US agencies to continue some fossil fuel work during shutdown

(Reuters) -Some government staff will be kept on during the federal shutdown to process permits and leases for oil, gas and coal operations on public lands, according to contingency plans published by the Interior Department on Wednesday.

Maintaining workers in those areas is aimed at addressing the national energy emergency President Donald Trump declared when he took office in January, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management plan posted by the Interior Department said.

Energy leasing and permitting was not exempt in a shutdown plan BLM published in 2023.

"In order to protect human life and federal property and address the National Energy Emergency, BLM staff responsible for processing oil & gas permits/leases, coal energy leases, and other energy and mineral resources necessary for energy production will be excepted or excepted on call, to the extent such plans are necessary to protect human life and federal property," the plan said.

It was not immediately clear whether a Utah coal lease sale planned for Wednesday would proceed. Neither BLM nor Interior Department officials were available for comment. The BLM permits energy development activities on the 245 million acres of federal lands it manages.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which oversees energy development in federal waters, said in its contingency plan that renewable energy activities would stop, but oil and gas work would continue in a limited fashion.

Some exempt employees will continue work on a Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale scheduled for December, for example, and on the development of the nation's next oil and gas leasing plan, BOEM said.

The Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, meanwhile, said on Wednesday its weekly petroleum inventory data - which heavily influences oil markets - would continue to be published on schedule.

Federal agencies are prevented by the Antideficiency Act from spending taxpayer dollars without appropriation by Congress, except when required to protect human life or property.

(Reporting by Nichola GroomEditing by Bill Berkrot)