The Trump administration is taking decisive steps to reverse the Biden-era public lands rules that had significantly limited oil and gas development across millions of acres of federally managed lands in the West and Alaska.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is updating its planning framework with the introduction of a new offshore planning area known as the High Arctic, located off the north coast of Alaska.
This addition brings the total number of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) planning areas to 27.
On Friday, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum announced the launch of a public engagement process aimed at developing the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program.
This initiative marks the beginning of a multi-year effort to shape the future of offshore energy development in the United States.
Several existing planning areas will see their boundaries revised to better align with BOEM’s updated jurisdiction.
Details regarding these updates will be published in an upcoming Federal Register notice and will also be available on BOEM’s official website.
The Outer Continental Shelf represents a major contributor to U.S. energy production.
As of April 1, BOEM manages a total of 2,227 active oil and gas leases, covering approximately 12.1 million acres.
Out of these, 469 leases are currently in production, generating substantial revenue.
In fiscal year 2024, OCS leases contributed nearly $7 billion to the federal government and state partners, supporting hundreds of thousands of American jobs and accounting for 14% of U.S. oil production and 2% of natural gas output.
The most recent resource assessment conducted by BOEM estimates that the Outer Continental Shelf holds an estimated 68.79 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and 229.03 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas.
Once finalized, the 11th National OCS Program will replace the existing 2024–2029 leasing program, which includes three planned lease sales in the Gulf of America.
In the meantime, BOEM is continuing preparations for those sales while concurrently working on the new program.
This recent action follows President Donald Trump’s issuance of Executive Order 14154, titled ‘Unleashing American Energy,’ which outlines a federal policy committed to maximally utilize energy production from domestic resources, including federal lands and waters.
In addition to establishing the new High Arctic area, notices recently posted by the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the White House Office of Management and Budget indicate that two rules finalized last year by the Bureau of Land Management are currently under formal review and could potentially be rescinded.
One of the rules targeted for rescission was finalized in June 2024 and applies to approximately 245 million acres of land overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.
This rule mandated that conservation and landscape health be treated as “co-equal” to other uses such as drilling and mining, thus shifting federal land management priorities.
The Trump administration aims to reverse this public lands rule.
The second Biden-era rule under review is specific to Alaska, where it places limitations on oil and gas development within the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska.
This 23-million-acre region on Alaska’s North Slope was originally established for oil and gas development with national security in mind.
The Interior Department asserts that rescinding both rules is part of a larger strategy to expand domestic energy production in accordance with Trump’s Executive Order 14153, signed on Inauguration Day, January 20.
This order aims to rejuvenate Alaska’s natural resource industry by undoing Biden-era restrictions that have limited oil and gas extraction, among other activities.
Key measures outlined in the order include reinstating oil and gas leasing in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, reversing Biden’s cancellation of leases in ANWR’s 1002 Area Coastal Plain, and directing the Secretary of the Interior to initiate additional leasing and issue permits for exploration and development.
It also involves removing restrictions in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska by reversing Biden’s limits on drilling and reinstating a Trump-era management plan that opened approximately 80% of the 23-million-acre reserve to leasing.
Other priorities include expediting permitting for the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project to bolster energy production and export capabilities while also overturning Biden’s moratorium on new offshore oil and gas drilling in regions like the Bering Sea and Arctic Ocean, aiming to facilitate exploration in these areas.
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