Republican Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon announced that he will use $12 million in excess coronavirus federal relief money to fund oil and gas projects through the Energy Rebound Program, the Associated Press reports.
The Energy Rebound Program was set up in November to help oil and gas companies impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. The program has a cap of $500,000 per company applying for aid. The Wyoming Business Council estimated that the last round of program projects will receive more than $150 million in oil and natural gas in 2021.
Four weeks ago, Gordon announced that he was eliminating unemployment payments to individuals who lost their jobs or contractors who lost work due to the pandemic. The state still has about $53 million in unallocated federal relief monies it has yet to spend.