Proposed OCS lease sale would open Atlantic, Pacific, Eastern GOM – all have been closed since early 1980s
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced the next step for development of the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (National OCS Program) for 2019-2024.
The program proposes to make over 90 percent of the total OCS acreage and more than 98 percent of undiscovered oil and gas resources available for future exploration and development in federal offshore areas, the agency said in a press release.
Source: BOEM
By comparison, the current program puts 94 percent of the OCS off limits; the development would be the largest number of lease sales in U.S. history.
The Draft Proposed Program (DPP) includes 47 potential lease sales in 25 of the 26 planning areas:
- 19 sales off the coast of Alaska,
- 7 in the Pacific Region,
- 12 in the Gulf of Mexico, and
- 9 in the Atlantic Region.
Gulf of Mexico
The DPP proposes 10 biannual lease sales in those areas of the Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico that are not subject to Congressional moratorium or otherwise unavailable, and two sales in the portions of the Eastern and Central Gulf of Mexico after the expiration of the Congressional moratorium in 2022. This is the first time the majority of the Eastern GOM Planning Area would be available for leasing since 1988.
Alaska
The DPP proposes 19 lease sales in the Alaska Region (3 in the Chukchi Sea, 3 in the Beaufort Sea, 2 in Cook Inlet, and 1 sale each in 11 other program areas in Alaska). These 11 program areas consist of the Gulf of Alaska, Kodiak, Shumagin, Aleutian Arc, St. George Basin, Bowers Basin, Aleutian Basin, Navarin Basin, St. Matthew-Hall, Norton Basin, and Hope Basin. No sales are proposed in the North Aleutian Basin Planning Area that has been under Presidential withdrawal since December 2014.
Pacific
The DPP proposes 7 lease sales in the Pacific Region (2 each for Northern California, Central California, and Southern California, and 1 for Washington/Oregon). There have been no sales in the Pacific Region since 1984. Currently there are 43 leases in producing status in the Southern California Planning Area.
Atlantic
The DPP proposes 9 lease sales in the Atlantic Region (3 sales each for the Mid- and South Atlantic, 2 for the North Atlantic, and 1 for the Straits of Florida). There have been no sales in the Atlantic since 1983 and there are no existing leases.
The DPP proposes 9 lease sales in the Atlantic Region (3 sales each for the Mid- and South Atlantic, 2 for the North Atlantic, and 1 for the Straits of Florida). There have been no sales in the Atlantic since 1983 and there are no existing leases.
Source: BOEM
Today’s draft proposal was informed by approximately 816,000 comments from a wide variety of stakeholders, including state governments, federal agencies, public interest groups, industry, and the public. Before the program is finalized, the public will have additional opportunities to provide input including public meetings starting on January 16, 2018.
Using the information received from these public meetings, BOEM will prepare a Proposed Program (PP), which will be published for public comment, to be followed by a Proposed Final Program (PFP). In addition, DOI will prepare a Draft Programmatic EIS to be published concurrently with the PP, and a Final EIS with the PFP.
