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R44692 — Five-Year Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program: Status and Issues in Brief

Reports · published 2025-12-04 · v45 · Active · crsreports.congress.gov ↗

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Authors
Laura B. Comay
Report id
R44692
Summary

Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA), as amended, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) within the Department of the Interior (DOI) must prepare and maintain forward-looking five-year plans—referred to by BOEM as national programs or five-year programs—to schedule proposed oil and gas lease sales on the U.S. outer continental shelf (OCS). In December 2023, under the Biden Administration, the Secretary of the Interior approved a five-year program that scheduled three offshore oil and gas lease sales for the 2024-2029 period, all in the Gulf of America (formerly Gulf of Mexico). In November 2025, under the second Trump Administration, BOEM released a draft of a new five-year program for 2026-2031, which could replace the leasing schedule for some years of the current program. BOEM’s development of a new five-year program has typically taken two to three years, although the development period for the 2024-2029 program was longer. During program preparation, successive drafts of the program are published for review and comment. All available leasing areas are initially examined, and the selection may then be narrowed based on economic and environmental analysis to arrive at a final leasing schedule. Under the OCSLA, the proposed final program (PFP) is submitted to the President and to Congress for at least 60 days (although the President and Congress do not have formal approval roles). The proposal may then receive final approval from the Secretary of the Interior and may take effect. Congress can and has influenced five-year programs through oversight and legislation, including in the 119th Congress. P.L. 119-21, the FY2025 budget reconciliation law enacted in July 2025, requires additional offshore oil and gas lease sales beyond those scheduled in the five-year program. Other bills in the 119th Congress would set new terms for program development under the OCSLA, impose leasing moratoria in specified areas, or make other types of changes. This report discusses recent developments related to the leasing program, selected issues for congressional consideration, and 119th Congress legislation. The broader history, legal framework, and process for developing the five-year programs are addressed in CRS Report R44504, Five-Year Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Program: History and Background. **Note to Reviewers and PUB: summary is for metadata purposes only and is suppressed in final product, per guidance for In Brief products.**

Bills cited (53)

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