WASHINGTON—The Department of the Interior has announced plans to replace the Biden administration’s 2024–2029 offshore leasing plan—the smallest ever published—with a far more expansive program by October 2026.

The proposal for the 2026–2031 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program envisions 34 potential offshore lease sales across 21 of 27 existing Outer Continental Shelf planning areas, covering approximately 1.27 billion acres. That includes 21 areas off the coast of Alaska, seven in the U.S. Gulf, and six along the Pacific coast, the DOI says.

“Offshore oil and gas development requires long-term vision, steady policy, and the confidence for companies to invest in American energy. For years, that confidence was undercut by the Biden administration’s failed leasing policies,” says Jarrod Agen, executive director of the National Energy Dominance Council. “By putting a real leasing plan back on track, we’re restoring energy security, protecting American jobs, and strengthening the nation’s ability to lead on energy for decades to come.”

In developing the proposal, the DOI says it considered more than 86,000 comments that stakeholders, states, industry representatives and members of the public submitted in response to a request for information in April 2025. The agency notes that inclusion of a planning area in the proposal does not guarantee it will be included in the final program offered for lease. The current announcement marks the first of three proposals that will be developed before final approval of the 2026–2031 program.

Edith Naegele, president and CEO of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, welcomed the proposal. “A robust Five–Year Plan is essential to U.S. national security needs as it reduces our dependence on foreign oil, ensures a stable domestic energy supply, and supports hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs,” she said.

“IPAA strongly supports broad inclusion of all OCS areas to ensure areas of high interest make it into the final plan,” she added. “This will ensure a competitive bidding process among producers which ensures a good return to the American people via billions of dollars paid annually to the U.S. Treasury.”

Energy Workforce & Technology Council President Molly Determan called the proposed five-year plan “a turning point for America’s energy future.”

“This plan signals to the world that the United States intends not only to lead, but to compete and invest for the long haul,” she explained. “A clear offshore leasing schedule strengthens our supply chains, anchors long-term planning and ensures our workforce has the stability they deserve. This is how you build real energy security.”

Likely Opposition

The proposal offers for consideration leases in every Alaska-adjacent OCS planning area between 2026 and 2031, annual leases in the Western Gulf of Mexico from 2027 to 2031, and lease sales on the western edge of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico in 2029 and 2030, according to S&P Global. The firm points out that these sales would be conducted alongside the 30 required by the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which are scheduled to begin in December and continue for 15 years.

While the proposal includes Pacific lease sales, S&P questions whether they will occur. “Pacific waters have not been included in an OCS program proposal since the 1987-1992 plan,” it writes. “None of those sales were ever held. Consistent local resistance and pressure from lawmakers in Washington have stymied attempts to lease those areas for oil and gas production.”

For more details on the proposal, including maps showing the areas under consideration in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, see National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The comment period ends on Jan. 23.