Trump Administration Kicks Off Massive Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has set in motion what officials are calling a transformational expansion of U.S. offshore oil and gas development, announcing final terms for a massive Gulf of America lease sale and proposing the first of six Cook Inlet lease sales in Alaska.

The moves represent the opening salvos in a congressionally mandated leasing program spanning decades, with 30 Gulf lease sales and six Alaska Cook Inlet sales required under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Lease Sale Big Beautiful Gulf 1 (BBG1) will make roughly 80 million acres available when bids are opened on December 10, 2025. The Gulf of America Outer Continental Shelf holds an estimated 29.59 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and 54.84 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

“President Trump’s signing of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act marked the beginning of a new chapter for oil and gas development in the Gulf of America and Alaska’s Cook Inlet,” said BOEM Acting Director Matt Giacona. “BOEM is now moving forward with a predictable, congressionally mandated leasing schedule that will support offshore oil and gas development for decades to come.”

To maximize industry participation amid challenging market conditions—with WTI crude prices recently falling into the low $60 range—BOEM has set royalty rates at 12.5%, the statutory minimum, for both shallow and deepwater leases.

In Alaska, BOEM’s proposed Cook Inlet sale would offer approximately one million acres, with the final lease sale scheduled for March 4, 2026. The program calls for annual sales from 2026 to 2028, then again from 2030 to 2032.

The Proposed Notice will publish in the Federal Register today, initiating a 60-day comment period for affected state governors and local governments before BOEM issues final sale terms.

The lease sales are expected to generate billions in revenue through upfront lease payments, annual rental fees, and production royalties. In fiscal year 2024, OCS leases contributed 14% of domestic oil production and 2% of domestic natural gas production, generating $7 billion in federal revenues.

These funds flow to the U.S. Treasury and to coastal states through revenue-sharing programs that support restoration projects, hurricane protection infrastructure, education, and other public services.

In April, the Department of the Interior initiated development of the 11th National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program to replace the current 2024-2029 program, which includes only three lease sales—all in the Gulf of America. A notable development is the establishment of the High Arctic as the 27th OCS planning area offshore Alaska.

The Final Notice of Sale for BBG1 publishes in the Federal Register today, with the public bid reading scheduled for 9 a.m. Central Time on December 10 and live-streamed for industry observers. Details on both lease sales are available at BOEM’s website.

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