Energy dominance mission prompts US to supersede current offshore oil & gas leasing program

As the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management works to set the stage for the next oil and gas leasing round to be held for offshore acreage in the Gulf of America, formerly the U.S. Gulf of Mexico (GoM), the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) is on a quest to fulfill the Trump administration’s energy dominance dreams by laying the groundwork to revise the scaled-back oil and gas leasing program, which comes with only three lease sales up to 2029, as a legacy of the previous administration’s zest to turbocharge clean energy development.

After the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) forbade BOEM from issuing a lease for offshore wind development unless the agency had put up at least 60 million acres for oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the previous year, the Department of the Interior published the ‘2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program’ in December 2023.

With no lease sales in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Alaskan waters, this program, which entails three oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of America, is said to contain the fewest oil and gas lease sales for a five-year program in U.S. history. These three potential oil and gas lease sales are slated for 2025, 2027, and 2029, respectively.

BOEM, which recently disclosed plans to publish a proposed notice of the first lease sale in June 2025, unveiled an analysis that showcases an increase of an additional 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) since 2021 in the estimated oil and gas reserves on the Gulf of America OCS, bringing the total reserve estimate to 7.04 billion boe, made up of 5.77 billion barrels of oil and 7.15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, representing a 22.6% uptick in remaining recoverable reserves. 

The U.S. Secretary of the Interior has followed this up by directing the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to take the first step in a public engagement process to develop a new schedule for offshore oil and gas lease sales on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. As a result, BOEM will soon publish in the Federal Register a request for information and comments on the preparation of the 11th National OCS oil and gas leasing program to initiate a 45-day public comment period. 

Following the recent change in the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s jurisdiction on the OCS, a new planning area offshore Alaska—the High Arctic—is being established as the 27th OCS planning area, while boundaries of other existing planning areas are being updated to align with BOEM’s revised jurisdiction.

DOI highlighted: “As mandated by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Department of the Interior must solicit input from interested and affected parties during development of the National OCS Program. Consistent with prior efforts, BOEM will request information on all OCS planning areas at this initial stage. 

“Once finalized, the 11th National OCS Program will replace the current 10th Program (2024–2029), which includes just three lease sales over five years—all located in the Gulf of America. While BOEM continues work to complete those sales, development of the 11th Program will proceed concurrently.”

While the request for information and comments does not propose a specific timeline for future lease sales or make any early determinations regarding which areas may be included, it invites stakeholders to provide insight and recommendations for leasing opportunities, raise concerns, and identify other existing uses that may be affected by offshore leasing. 

For DOI, the OCS is “a vital national resource, playing a critical role in America’s energy security,” with BOEM managing 2,227 active oil and gas leases as of April 1, 2025, covering approximately 12.1 million acres in OCS regions, with 469 leases currently producing oil and gas and generating billions of dollars in revenue for the U.S. Treasury and state governments while supporting hundreds of thousands of American jobs.

During the fiscal year 2024 alone, production from OCS leases is perceived to have accounted for approximately 14% of domestic oil production and 2% of domestic natural gas production, yielding $7 billion in federal revenues. The OCS is described as holding vast quantities of undiscovered energy resources, with BOEM’s most recent assessment estimating a mean of 68.79 billion barrels of oil and 229.03 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. 

Commenting on the action being taken to supplant the current leasing program, Doug Burgum, Secretary of the Interior, underscored: “Launching the process to develop the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Program marks a decisive step toward securing American Energy Dominance.

“Through a transparent and inclusive public engagement process, we are reinforcing our commitment to responsible offshore energy development—driving job creation, bolstering economic growth and strengthening American energy independence. Under President Donald J. Trump’s leadership, we are unlocking the full potential of our offshore resources to benefit the American people for generations to come.” 

President Trump’s Executive Order 14154, ‘Unleashing American Energy,’ is interpreted to underline the national interest in maximizing the use of what DOI sees as “affordable, reliable domestic energy,” establishing U.S. policy to “encourage energy exploration and production on federal lands and waters, including the Outer Continental Shelf, to meet the needs of our citizens and solidify the United States as a global energy leader long into the future.” 

As the Trump administration has reaffirmed its commitment to offshore energy development, the Department of the Interior points out that energy dominance remains “a cornerstone of U.S. economic strength and global leadership,” by expanding U.S. offshore capabilities to ensure affordable energy for consumers, creating high-paying jobs, and reducing dependence on foreign adversaries.

Since DOI is determined to cut the red tape and unleash America’s natural resources, the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) believes that the Gulf of America offshore energy industry is gaining long-term momentum, as it sees the latest move to revise the leasing program as “a major step toward restoring predictability and growth for American offshore energy.”

In NOIA’s view, the new program is a chance to deliver the long-term vision and stability that offshore operators, workers, and coastal communities rely on with predictable leasing, long-term investments, and energy leadership.