Talos Energy today commented on recent Secretarial and Executive Orders pertaining to oil and natural gas activities on federal lands and reiterated its ability to continue normal operations for both existing production and future drilling projects.

Talos does not expect any material near-term impact to its business model, operating plans or ability to continue generating long-term shareholder value from the recently announced Orders. Specifically, last week's Secretarial Order 3395 temporarily revised delegations of authority within the Department of the Interior for approvals of leases and permits outside of existing ongoing operations for the next 60 days, and does not constitute a ban or moratorium. Furthermore, as stated in this week's Department of the Interior news release, the Executive Order issued on Wednesday places a pause on new leasing activities in federal lands, but it has no impact on existing operations or permits for existing leases, which are continuing to be reviewed and approved. Thus, Talos does not expect any material near-term impact to its current production or its ability to conduct development, exploitation and exploration activities across the Company's significant footprint of approximately 1.5 million gross acres. Additionally, Talos expects to continue its highly active business development efforts across the industry's 11.7 million acres of active federal leases in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

President and Chief Executive Officer Timothy S. Duncan commented: 
"Despite the current regulatory environment, we do not see any material impediments to continuing to execute our business – providing reliable, secure, affordable, domestic energy resources to supply our society while operating in a safe, environmentally and socially responsible way. There is no doubt that oil and natural gas play a crucial role in our daily lives, supplying the growing demand for energy to generate electricity, fuel cars and airplanes and power domestic manufacturing. This demand is best supplied with our own domestic resources, rather than importing from abroad, which would increase emissions, increase costs to consumers, decrease government revenues, reduce security and destroy American jobs."

Duncan continued: "The offshore segment of our industry is a leader in ESG matters, among numerous other critical issues. Production from the Gulf of Mexico has a highly competitive carbon intensity relative to other basins. We operate under some of the strictest regulatory standards in the world with a minimal physical footprint in remote locations away from towns and cities, and our production flows to market through pipelines instead of on trucks and trains. Offshore production in the Gulf of Mexico generated over $5 billion in government revenues for taxpayers in 2019, over $1 billion of which went directly to funding national parks through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Lastly, the offshore oil and gas supply chain supports almost 350,000 jobs spanning all 50 states. At Talos, we are proud to provide products that are essential to modern daily life. We are equally proud to be a safe, responsible and positive force in our communities and are continuously working to improve performance in ESG focus areas, particularly with regard to emissions. As an industry leader, we intend to play an active role in continuing to educate our stakeholders on the role that our Company plays in powering our country."

KeyFacts Energy: Talos Energy US Gulf of Mexico country profile