Biden finally broke his election promise and gave the green light for oil and gas production in the United States.

On Friday, the Biden administration said it would resume leases to drill for oil and gas on US federal land from next week, but the leased area would be significantly reduced, corresponding to higher royalties.

According to the US Department of the Interior, the lease sale includes about 144000 acres of land, 80 per cent less than the potential lease was initially assessed; the company that won the rights will be required to pay a royalty of 18.75 per cent of the mining value of the land, up from 12.5 per cent, but still lower than the cost of state and private land.

The announcement marks the formal abandonment of Biden's campaign promises.As a candidate, Biden called for an end to oil and gas drilling on federal land as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming, and ordered a suspension of new leases on the day he took office.

Us energy companies have long been controversial about Biden's move, and in June last year, a federal judge in Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Biden government from suspending lease sales of exploration rights under lawsuits in 13 states with large amounts of oil and gas, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and West Virginia.

Recently, the Biden government is again under pressure to take action to address the historically high energy prices caused by the epidemic and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.The US Exploration and production Commission, which represents independent oil and gas producers, points out that Mr Obama has held dozens of lease sales at this time in office:

"while today's announcement is a step in the right direction, in order to truly release US energy, the Biden administration should continue to conduct sustained leasing sales under the Minerals Lease Act and issue licenses faster. And provide consistent regulatory certainty."

By this FridayThe national average price of gasoline is $4.07 a gallon, down from a recent high of $4.33 last month, but still more than 70 per cent higher than when Biden took office.

Biden used all sorts of tricks to lower prices. Earlier this month, he announced an unprecedented release of 180 million barrels of crude oil from the government's strategic reserves. The announcement comes just days after the US government eased prices by lifting seasonal restrictions on blended ethanol gasoline.

Supporters of the oil industry told BloombergThe United States cannot afford to limit oil and gas development in federal land and waters, which provide nearly 1/4 of the nation's production.

However, the Wall Street Journal pointed out that the action has not yet brought rapid relief to oil prices, because even after the lease is approved, it may take months or years to drill for oil to significantly increase supply. In the foreseeable period, this has become a major issue in the mid-term elections.

The Biden administration's action has caused strong dissatisfaction among environmental groups, Jeremy Nichols, director of the climate and energy program at WildEarth Guardians, a non-profit environmental group, said in a statement:

"this is pure climate denial. Although the Biden administration has had a good discussion on climate action, the reality is that they are advancing and retreating with the oil and gas industry. "

Until Friday, the Biden administration had not announced any specific plans for the sale.