Interior Department Proposes 34-Sale Offshore Leasing Program Through 2031, Including First Pacific Coast Sales Since 1984

The United States Department of the Interior released the draft 11th National Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program covering 2026 through 2031, proposing 34 potential lease sales across federal offshore waters. The program includes six Pacific Coast sales that would be the first offered there since 1984 and 21 Alaskan offshore sales spanning the Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Gulf of Alaska.

The proposal represents a significant expansion from the three-sale program the Biden administration approved for the 2024-29 cycle. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has positioned the expanded leasing program as both a national security and economic measure, citing the ongoing Strait of Hormuz crisis and its impact on global supply as reasons to accelerate domestic offshore development.

What the Program Proposes

The 34-sale draft is broken down by region:

• Gulf of Mexico: Seven sales covering deep and ultra-deepwater tracts where operators including Chevron, BP, and ConocoPhillips already hold significant exploration acreage and production positions.
• Pacific Coast: Six sales covering offshore California, Oregon, and Washington. These waters have been off limits since a federal withdrawal order following the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill. The last competitive Pacific OCS sale was held in 1984, making this the first proposal to return the Pacific to active leasing in four decades.
• Alaska Offshore: Twenty-one sales across the Beaufort Sea, Chukchi Sea, and Gulf of Alaska, targeting areas largely excluded from Biden-era leasing but where seismic data suggest significant undiscovered oil and gas resources.

The draft program is not a guarantee that all 34 sales will proceed. Each sale requires a separate environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act, and Pacific Coast sales in particular will face legal challenges from California, Oregon, and Washington state governments. However, the program sets the outer boundary of what is permissible under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act and signals the administration's direction clearly.

BLM Onshore Leasing Hits Revenue Record

The offshore proposal arrives as Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) reported that onshore oil and gas lease sales in the first year of the Trump second term generated $356.6 million in revenues, more than the entire Biden administration combined. BLM held 22 competitive lease sales covering 165,681 acres across 10 states, with the highest-value tracts in the Permian Basin of New Mexico and Texas and the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.

That onshore leasing surge has not yet translated into a rig count recovery. Baker Hughes data showed the US rig count fell to 545 for a third consecutive decline, with capital discipline holding across the exploration and production sector despite WTI prices above $90 per barrel. Industry executives have cited investor pressure for returns over growth, combined with uncertainty about the Hormuz ceasefire outcome, as reasons to hold back on new drilling commitments even as leasing activity accelerates.

EPA Rollbacks Complete the Policy Package

Interior's leasing expansion is being implemented alongside a comprehensive regulatory rollback. The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed revoking the 2015 standards requiring a 32 percent reduction in power-sector carbon emissions by 2030 and has repealed the 2024 rule requiring new baseload natural gas plants to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90 percent before 2032. Together with the OCS program and BLM lease revenues, these moves represent the most comprehensive pro-production regulatory shift since the Reagan era.

Industry Reaction and Outlook

The American Petroleum Institute and the National Ocean Industries Association welcomed the draft program, calling the Pacific Coast and Alaska provisions long-overdue decisions that recognize the nation's offshore resource potential. Environmental groups including the Sierra Club and Earthjustice announced plans to challenge any Pacific Coast sales under NEPA and the Coastal Zone Management Act, setting up multi-year litigation that could delay or block individual sales even if the program is finalized.

For Gulf of Mexico operators, seven additional sales under the new program represent incremental but meaningful opportunity. The deepwater Gulf remains one of the highest-margin exploration provinces globally, producing approximately two million barrels per day at operating costs well below current WTI prices. Operators are expected to submit competitive bids on any new deepwater acreage, particularly along the Perdido Fold Belt and in emerging Eastern Gulf play fairways that have drawn increasing exploration interest since 2024.

The final program is subject to a 60-day public comment period before Interior finalizes it, with the first sales under the new program expected no earlier than 2027 given mandatory review timelines under the OCSLA.

Sources: US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Akin Gump 2026 Energy Policy Review, National Ocean Industries Association.