US Department of Interior announces eleventh national OCS leasing program
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum has directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to initiate the first step in a “robust” public engagement process to develop a new schedule for offshore oil and gas lease sales on the US Outer Continental Shelf.
The BOEM will soon publish in the Federal Register a Request for Information (RFI) and Comments on the preparation of the 11th National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program. This publication will initiate a 45-day public comment period and serve as the initial step in the multi-year planning 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.
As mandated by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, the Department of the Interior (DOI) must solicit input from interested and affected parties during development of the National OCS Program. Consistent with prior efforts, BOEM will request information on all OCS planning areas at this initial stage.
Once finalized, the 11th National OCS Program will replace the current 10th Program (2024–2029), which includes just three lease sales over five years—all located in what the DOI describes as the “Gulf of America.” While BOEM continues work to complete those sales, development of the 11th Program will proceed concurrently.
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 says. Instead, it will invite stakeholders to provide insight and recommendations for leasing opportunities, raise concerns and identify other existing uses that may be affected by offshore leasing.
The department notes that the OCS is a vital national resource, playing a critical role in America’s energy security. In fiscal year 2024 alone, production from OCS leases accounted for approximately 14% of domestic oil production and 2% of domestic natural gas production, yielding $7 billion in federal revenues.
Additionally, the OCS holds “vast quantities” of undiscovered energy resources. BOEM’s most recent assessment estimates a mean of 68.79 billion barrels of oil and 229.03 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Earlier this year, the Trump administration reaffirmed its commitment to offshore energy development. On April 4, 2025, Secretary Burgum directed the BOEM to move forward with a lease sale this year in “the Gulf of America.”
