The plan would mark the first new oil and gas leases in federal waters of the Pacific Ocean in more than four decades.
The Trump administration on Thursday announced plans to open federal waters in the Pacific Ocean to new oil and gas leases for the first time in more than four decades.
The draft plan released by the U.S. Department of the Interior confirms rumors that have been swirling for weeks. The proposal would see as many as 34 offshore lease sales across 1.27 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf through 2031, including six areas along the Pacific Coast, 21 off the coast of Alaska and seven in the Gulf of Mexico.
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum announced the plan with an order titled “Unleashing American Offshore Energy,” which directs the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to take the necessary steps to terminate former President Biden’s much more limited plan, which called for only three new oil and gas leases through 2029 , the lowest number ever and only in the Gulf of Mexico.
“The Biden administration slammed the brakes on offshore oil and gas leasing and crippled the long-term pipeline of America’s offshore production,” Burgum said in a statement. “By moving forward with the development of a robust, forward-thinking leasing plan, we are ensuring that America’s offshore industry stays strong, our workers stay employed, and our nation remains energy dominant for decades to come.”
California has about two dozen oil platforms in state and federal waters off the coast, but most are considered at or near the end of their productive life. The state has not seen new oil leases in federal waters since 1984, largely due to resident pushback following a disastrous oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969.
“This draft plan is an oil spill nightmare,” said Joseph Gordon, campaign director with the nonprofit ocean conservation organization Oceana. “The last thing America needs now is a massive expansion of offshore drilling that could shut down our shores with catastrophic oil spills.
