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Oil and Gas Energy

Facilitating the Responsible Development of Oil and Gas Resources on the OCS

The Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) is a significant source of oil and gas for the Nation’s energy supply. As of May 1, 2021, BOEM manages about 2,287 active oil and gas leases on approximately 12.1 million OCS acres. Offshore Federal production in FY 2020 reached approximately 641 million barrels of oil and 882 billion cubic feet of gas, almost all of which was produced in the Gulf of Mexico. This accounts for about 15 percent of all domestic oil production and 2 percent of domestic natural gas production.  

The OCS areas of the United States are estimated to contain significant quantities of resources in yet-to-be-discovered oil and gas fields. The Bureau's latest estimates of technically recoverable oil and gas resources in undiscovered fields on the OCS are 68.79 billion barrels of oil and 229.03 trillion cubic feet of gas (2021 National Assessment, mean estimates).