The U.S. Interior Department on Friday said it would begin taking public input for a new five-year offshore oil and gas leasing program that could include new zones in the Arctic and elsewhere to maximize energy development.
President Donald Trump has ordered government agencies to identify ways to increase already record high U.S. oil and gas production, arguing past administrations had unnecessarily curtailed drilling to combat climate change. He had also repealed former President Joe Biden’s efforts to block oil drilling in the Arctic and along large areas off the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
"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," Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a press release.
Interior said it would open a 45-day public comment period to begin the process of developing the five-year plan.
It said it was not proposing any specific timeline or locations for new leasing auctions.
"Instead, 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," according to the release.
It pointed out that Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management had recently gained jurisdiction over a new planning area in the High Arctic and that the boundaries of other outer continental shelf planning areas were also being revised – suggesting that new acreage may now be available to drillers.
It said that drilling auctions already scheduled for the next several years by the Biden administration in the Gulf of Mexico – which the Trump administration calls the Gulf of America - would remain in place.
Offshore leases account for around 14% of U.S. crude oil production, according to Interior.
(Reuters - Reporting by Richard Valdmanis, Editing by Franklin Paul)