Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 5 year leasing plan, Alaska, California, eastern Gulf of Mexico, Gov. Newsom on November 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Per the Washington Post, the Administration’s 5 Year Oil & Gas leasing plan will include (in addition to the Central and Western Gulf):
Posted in California, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 5 year leasing plan, Beaufort Sea, California, Florida, leaked report, Mid Atlantic, North Atlantic, South Atlantic on October 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »
A leaked Dept. of the Interior (DOI) document will likely have little in common with the Draft Proposed Program (DPP, step 2 above). The DPP decisions will be made by the President, not by DOI staffers or managers.
According to media reports, the leaked document includes lease sales offshore New England, the Carolina’s and California. Unless the President revokes his own 2020 withdrawals, the Carolina’s are off-limits until 2032. Ditto for the Eastern Gulf within 125 miles from Florida. (See the map below.)
Including North Atlantic and offshore California in the DPP would unleash a firestorm of opposition. In the case of the North Atlantic, the acreage may not be sufficiently prospective to justify the fight.
To the extent that marine sanctuary determinations do not preclude California offshore leasing, the litigation and legislative battles probably would. In the unlikely event that a sale could be held, who would bid? Who wants to be the next Sable?
The Beaufort Sea is the most likely frontier area to be included in the DPP given plans to open ANWR, operational history, resource potential, and State support.
Assuming the South Atlantic withdrawal could be partially lifted, a small, targeted lease sale would be of great interest to petroleum geologists and could have significant economic and national security implications. The late Paul Post, the foremost expert on the petroleum geology of the US Atlantic, saw great potential in the paleo deep- and ultra-deepwater areas. He advocated exploration concepts proven successful in analogous West African and South American settings where massive discoveries have been made. Samuel Epstein, another prominent petroleum geologist, also believes the deepwater Atlantic has great resource potential.
Finally, the extent of the Florida buffer needs to be considered given the high resource potential of the Eastern Gulf. Be it 75, 100, or 125 miles, leasing beyond that buffer should be a priority.
Posted in energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 5 year leasing plan, High Arctic, planning areas, Secretary Burgum, US Dept. of the Interior on April 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Dept. of the Interior Announcement and leasing plan development process
Notably, BOEM’s jurisdiction on the OCS has recently changed. A new planning area offshore Alaska—the High Arctic—is being established as the 27th OCS planning area. Additionally, boundaries of other existing planning areas are being updated to align with BOEM’s revised jurisdiction. Details on these changes will be included in a forthcoming Federal Register notice and posted to BOEM’s website.
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 5 year leasing plan, BOEM, Dan Yergin, Gulf of America, oil and gas reserves, Vicki Hollub on April 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s analysis reveals an additional 1.30 billion barrels of oil equivalent since 2021, bringing the total reserve estimate to 7.04 billion barrels of oil equivalent. This includes 5.77 billion barrels of oil and 7.15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—a 22.6% increase in remaining recoverable reserves.”
| Year | Number of fields | Original Reserves | Historical Cumulative Production | Reserves | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oil Bbbl | Gas Tcf | BOE Bbbl | Oil Bbbl | Gas Tcf | BOE Bbbl | Oil Bbbl | Gas Tcf | BOE Bbbl | ||
| 1975 | 255 | 6.61 | 59.9 | 17.3 | 3.82 | 27.2 | 8.66 | 2.79 | 32.7 | 8.61 |
| 1980 | 435 | 8.04 | 88.9 | 23.9 | 4.99 | 48.7 | 13.66 | 3.05 | 40.2 | 10.20 |
| 1985 | 575 | 10.63 | 116.7 | 31.4 | 6.58 | 71.1 | 19.23 | 4.05 | 45.6 | 12.16 |
| 1990 | 782 | 10.64 | 129.9 | 33.8 | 8.11 | 93.8 | 24.80 | 2.53 | 36.1 | 8.95 |
| 1995 | 899 | 12.01 | 144.9 | 37.8 | 9.68 | 117.4 | 30.57 | 2.33 | 27.5 | 7.22 |
| 2000 | 1,050 | 14.93 | 167.3 | 44.7 | 11.93 | 142.7 | 37.32 | 3.00 | 24.6 | 7.38 |
| 2005 | 1,196 | 19.80 | 181.8 | 52.2 | 14.61 | 163.9 | 43.77 | 5.19 | 17.9 | 8.38 |
| 2010 | 1,282 | 21.50 | 191.1 | 55.5 | 17.11 | 179.3 | 49.01 | 4.39 | 11.8 | 6.49 |
| 2015 | 1,312 | 23.06 | 193.8 | 57.6 | 19.58 | 186.5 | 52.78 | 3.48 | 7.3 | 4.78 |
| 2016 | 1,315 | 23.73 | 194.6 | 58.4 | 20.16 | 187.5 | 53.58 | 3.57 | 6.8 | 4.79 |
| 2017 | 1,319 | 24.65 | 195.2 | 59.7 | 20.78 | 188.9 | 54.21 | 3.87 | 6.3 | 5.00 |
| 2018 | 1,319 | 24.86 | 195.5 | 59.7 | 21.42 | 189.8 | 55.21 | 3.44 | 5.7 | 4.45 |
| 2019 | 1,325 | 26.77 | 197.0 | 61.8 | 22.12 | 190.9 | 56.09 | 4.65 | 6.1 | 5.74 |
| 2023 | 1,336 | 30.43 | 201.2 | 66.2 | 24.66 | 194.0 | 59.19 | 5.77 | 7.2 | 7.04 |
This increase in reserves will not please those responsible for the current 5 Year Oil and Gas Leasing Plan. They told us that we don’t need more OCS lease sales and that our biggest concern is producing too much oil and gas for too long!
The long-term nature of OCS oil and gas development, such that production on a lease may not begin for a decade or more after lease issuance and can continue for decades, makes consideration of net-zero pathways relevant to the Secretary’s determinations on how the National OCS Program best meets the Nation’s energy needs.“
Energy experts like Dan Yergin and Vicki Hollub have a much different view. Per Hollub:
“Crude reserves are being found and developed at a much slower pace than they’ve been in the past. Specifically, she said the world has only newly identified less than half the amount of crude it’s consumed over the course of the past 10 years. Given the current trends, this means demand will exceed supply before the end of 2025.“
A bit off-topic, but Jeff Walker, a former colleague and the MMS Regional Supervisor in Alaska, had the best quip about reserve numbers. In explaining an operator’s revised reserve numbers for a producing unit which had leases with different royalty rates, Jeff noted that “oil always migrates to the lower royalty leases.”😉
Posted in decommissioning, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged 5 year leasing plan, bop requirements, decommissioning, Doug Burgum, financial assurance, SECRETARIAL Order 3418, US Dept. of the Interior, well contro on February 5, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Of particular interest are mandated reviews of the:
Not on the list, but should have been: A review of the fragmented regulatory regime for offshore pipelines, and the outdated and inconsistent regulations.
Posted in Offshore Wind, tagged 5 year leasing plan, BOEM, Gulf of Maine, Inflation Reduction Act, last sale, offshore wind lease sale, ruling against offshore oil and gas leasing on October 29, 2024| 2 Comments »
Gulf of Maine Final Lease Areas, Acres, and Assigned Region
| Lease Area ID | Total Acres | Developable Acres |
| OCS-A 0562 | 97,854 | 97,854 |
| OCS-A 0563 | 105,682 | 105,682 |
| OCS-A 0564 | 98,565 | 93,756 |
| OCS-A 0565 | 103,191 | 103,191 |
| OCS-A 0566 | 96,075 | 96,075 |
| OCS-A 0567 | 117,780 | 113,208 |
| OCS-A 0568 | 124,897 | 116,363 |
| OCS-A 0569 | 106,038 | 101,757 |
| Total | 850,082 | 827,886 |
| Average | 106,260 | 103,486 |
Today’s Gulf of Maine sale will likely be the last wind lease sale for at least a year.
Per a provision in the “Inflation Reduction Act,” no offshore wind leases may be issued after 12/20/2024, the one year anniversary of the last oil and gas lease sale (no. 261).
Perhaps as a result of the legislative restriction, their desire to maximize wind leasing, and their plan to hold the fewest oil and gas lease sales in the history of the OCS program, BOEM front-loaded the 5 year wind leasing plan to include 4 sales from Aug. – Sept. 2024 (see schedule below). However, contrary to plan, the Gulf of Mexico sale was cancelled for lack of interest and the Oregon sale was cancelled at the request of the Governor in response to tribal and coastal county opposition.
The date of the next oil and gas lease sale is anyone’s guess. Next week’s elections are, of course, the elephant in the room. However, there is also an enormous ruling by a Federal judge in Maryland that would halt the issuance of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases and the approval of operating plans effective Dec. 20, 2024. Ironically (or perhaps not?), this is the same date after which no wind leases may be issued absent an oil and gas lease sale.
Chevron and industry trade associations have appealed Judge Boardman’s ruling. (Given the enormous implications of that ruling on current and future Gulf of Mexico production, I’m curious as to why Chevron is the only major producer that is a party in this appeal. Chevron was also the only producer that was a party in the litigation overturning the restrictive Sale 261 lease sale provisions. I’m assuming there is some legal or tactical reason for the absence of participation by Shell, bp, and Oxy?)
Finally, given the legislation linking future wind sales with oil and gas sales, are the Sierra Club et al, the plaintiffs in this case, comfortable with Judge Boardman’s decision? Perhaps they are okay with the judge’s ruling given the absence of any planned Atlantic wind leasing until 2026?
Posted in climate, energy policy, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 5 year leasing plan, elections, Maduro, production santions, US offshore oil and gas leasing, venezuela on September 24, 2024| Leave a Comment »
2024 will be the first year since 1958 without a single OCS oil and gas lease sale. There would not have been a sale in 2023 either were it not for a legislative mandate. The only 2022 lease sale was a micro-sale in the Cook Inlet that resulted in only a single bid. So, at the end of 2024 three years will have elapsed with only one meaningful sale, and that sale was mandated by Congress.
The current plan is for these de facto sanctions on US offshore production to continue. The Dept. of the Interior’s 5 year leasing plan includes a maximum of 3 sales, by far the fewest sales in any 5 year plan in OCS program history.
Meanwhile, the sanctions on Venezuelan production were further eased with the understanding that the Maduro regime would hold fair elections. To the surprise of no one, the evidence strongly suggests that those elections were not fair. Nonetheless, the sanctions on production have not been reimposed.
Apparently, the climate activists who have imposed their will on the OCS oil and gas program have less influence over our policy toward Venezuela. Or perhaps the production (and consumption) of Venezuelan oil is cleaner and greener (🙃 sarcasm intended!)
Posted in climate, energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, Regulation, tagged 5 year leasing plan, API, Chevron Doctrine, DOI, litigation, offshore oil and gas on August 13, 2024| Leave a Comment »
API is challenging the Dept. of the Interior’s 5 year oil and gas leasing plan, which includes the fewest lease sales in program history. That challenge was filed on 12 February, 60 days after Secretary Haaland approved the 5 plan and the first day appeals could be filed pursuant to 43 U.S. Code § 1349.
18 weeks after the API suit was filed, the Supreme Court overturned the Chevron Doctrine. That doctrine (described above) instructed judges to defer to agency interpretations when the language in a law was unclear.
Interior’s 5 year OCS oil and gas leasing plan provides for the fewest (3) lease sales in history and may not have included a single sale were it not for legislation prohibiting the issuance of offshore wind leases unless an offshore oil and gas lease sale was held during the prior year.
This unprecedented oil and leasing decision was based on “the need to confront the climate crisis through reducing greenhouse gas emissions” and on achieving “net zero pathways.” Neither of those objectives is articulated in the OCS Lands Act or other governing legislation.
Extending the Secretary’s general safety and environmental authority for OCS operations to include global climate considerations is a stretch and the type of interpretive administrative decision that the Supreme Court struck down.
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Wind, tagged 2023 wind sale, 5 year leasing plan, BOEM, Gulf of Mexico, Hercate, OCS oil and gas leasing, OCSLA, Offshore Wind, unsolicited lease request on July 29, 2024| Leave a Comment »
GoM wind leasing update:
BOEM’s aggressive wind leasing policy stands in stark contrast to their current oil and gas policy. Not a single oil and gas sale will be held in 2024. Were it not for a provision in the “Inflation Reduction Act,” the last 3 GoM sales (257, 259, and 261) would probably not have occurred.
The new 5 year oil and gas leasing plan confirms that the Dept. of the Interior (DOI) has no intention of fulfilling their statutory oil and gas leasing mandate. In announcing the new 5 year plan, DOI boasted that the plan includes the fewest sales (3) of any plan in the history of the program. DOI strongly implied that the only reason those 3 sales were included was to sustain the wind program.,
When we drafted the OCSLA amendments that authorize offshore wind leasing, we envisioned complementary and synergistic programs, not a dogmatic pro-wind bias. As experts like Daniel Yergin have repeatedly warned, the notion that wind energy can eliminate the need for oil and gas is pure folly.
Posted in energy policy, Gulf of Mexico, Offshore Energy - General, tagged 5 year leasing plan, Gulf of Mexico, oil sales, SPR depletion, Strategic Petroleum Reserve on June 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“We will do everything we can to make sure that the market is supplied well enough to ensure as low price as possible for American consumers,” Hochstein told the newspaper. “I think that we have enough in the SPR if it’s necessary.” ~Amos Hochstein, Special Presidential Coordinator for Global Infrastructure and Energy Security.
Maybe they should remove “Energy Security” from his impressive title since that seems to be a low priority.
Apparently it’s fine (and environmentally friendly) to deplete strategic oil reserves to reduce prices prior to an election, but not to hold regular oil and gas lease sales in the adjacent Gulf of Mexico. 2024 will be the first year without an OCS lease sale since 1958, and the Administration bragged about the new 5 year leasing plan having the fewest proposed sales in history!
5 Year Leasing Plan Announcement:
“Consistent with the requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) concerning offshore conventional and renewable energy leasing, the Department of the Interior today published the final 2024–2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (Program) with the fewest oil and gas lease sales in history.
These three lease sales are the minimum number that will enable the Interior Department’s offshore wind energy program to continue issuing leases in a way that will ensure continued progress towards the Administration’s goal of 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030.”
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 