U.S. Department Of Interior Wants To Hear From Public Regarding Offshore Drilling

On Friday, April 18, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced it will begin a “robust public engagement process” to develop a new schedule for offshore oil and gas lease sales on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).

As a first step, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will publish in the Federal Register a Request for Information (RFI) that will initiate a 45-day public comment period and will serve as the initial phase of a multi-year planning process.

The RFI will not propose a specific timeline for future lease sales, or make any early determinations regarding which areas may be included, the DOI said. Instead, it will simply invite stakeholders to provide insight and recommendations for leasing opportunities, raise concerns, and identify other existing uses that may be affected by offshore leasing.

As the DOI noted, the OCS plays “a critical role in America’s energy security.” In fiscal year 2024 alone, production from OCS leases accounted for approximately 14 percent of domestic oil production and two percent of domestic natural gas production. The OCS also holds vast quantities of undiscovered energy resources. In fact, according to BOEM’s most recent assessment estimate, increasing the number of leases could result in 68.79 billion barrels of oil and 229.03 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.