National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2023-2028

On July 1, 2022, the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced the availability of the Proposed Program for the 2023-2028 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (National OCS Program), as well as the Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the 2023-2028 Program (Draft PEIS) for public comments.

The Proposed Program includes no more than ten potential lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and an option for one potential lease sale in the northern portion of the Cook Inlet of Alaska. No lease sales are proposed for the other Alaska planning areas, nor for the Atlantic or Pacific planning areas during the five-year period. Click on the “Proposed Lease Schedule” tab above for the proposed schedule.

Inclusion of an area in the Proposed Program is not a final indication that it will be included in the approved National OCS Program or offered in a lease sale. However, any area or sale not included in the Proposed Program will not be considered for inclusion in the 2023–2028 National OCS Program. 

• Notice of Availability of the 2023-2028 National OCS Program and Draft PEIS (coming soon)
• Proposed Program for 2023-2028
• Draft PEIS for 2023-2028
  • Volume 1
  • Volume 2 - Appendix

Supplemental Information

• U.S. OCS GOM Region Oil and Gas Production Forecast 2022-2031
• Draft Economic Analysis Methodology for the 2023-2028 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program

Request for Public Comments

A Notice of Availability (NOA) will be published to the Federal Register on Friday, July 8, 2022. Publication of the NOA will initiate a 90-day public comment period, which will close on Thursday, October 6, 2022. Comments may be submitted to www.regulations.gov once the NOA is published.

BOEM will host four virtual meetings to obtain public input. Meeting times and registration information will be provided soon.

• Tuesday, Aug 23
• Thursday, Aug 25
• Monday, Aug 29
• Wednesday, Aug 31

These meetings are open-house style where you can speak live with BOEM staff to get your questions answered, as well as to provide written comments.

Click on the “How to Comment” tab above for directions on how to comment on the Proposed Program and Draft PEIS. 

After careful consideration of the OCS Lands Act Section 18(a) factors, as well as input from governors and the public, this Proposed Program offers up to ten potential sales in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Region Program Area 1 (which contains the Western GOM Planning Area, most of the Central GOM Planning Area, and a small portion of the Eastern GOM Planning Area), and one potential lease sale in the northern portion of the Cook Inlet Planning Area offshore Alaska. 

2023-2028 Proposed Program Lease Sale Schedule

The OCS Lands Act (OCSLA) charges the Secretary of the Interior with establishing a schedule of lease sales for a five-year period by evaluating specific factors of OCS regions and selecting the size, timing, and location of proposed OCS lease sales that best meet regional and national energy needs. BOEM is the agency under the Interior Department responsible for administering and advising the Secretary about the National OCS Program. 

When approving a National OCS Program, the OCS Lands Act requires the Secretary to consider eight factors, including the: 

• Geographical, geological, and ecological characteristics of the OCS regions.  
• Equitable sharing of developmental benefits and environmental risks among regions. 
• National and regional energy markets.  
• Other uses of the resources and OCS. 
• Expressed industry interest in oil and gas development. 
• Laws, goals, and policies of affected states as identified by governors. 
• Environmental sensitivity and marine productivity of different areas of the OCS. 
• Environmental and predictive information for different areas of the OCS. 

Request for Interest 

The National OCS Program development process for years 2023-2028 started with the broadest consideration of areas available for leasing. 

The first step in the development process, a Request for information, was published in the Federal Register on July 3, 2017, with a 45-day comment period that ended on August 17, 2017. Per statute and consistent with previous efforts, BOEM evaluated all 26 of the OCS planning areas during this first stage and, therefore, requested comments on all areas. 

Draft Proposed Program 

The first of three proposals, the Draft Proposed Program (DPP), was released in January 2018, with a 60-day comment period that ended on March 9, 2018. The DPP included 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.  

Following publication of the DPP, BOEM considered more than 2 million comments from the public and stakeholders, including governors, Federal agencies, state agencies, local agencies, energy and non-energy industries, Tribal governments, non-governmental organizations, which include environmental advocacy groups, and the public. Comments received in response to the DPP ranged from supporting exploration and development of the entire OCS, to opposing all such exploration and development. Comments can be viewed online at Regulations.gov. 

Proposed Program and Next Steps 

Release of the Proposed Program follows the 2018 publication of the DPP and is the second in a series of three proposals required before Secretary Haaland can take final action to approve the 2023-2028 Program.

The Secretary requests public and stakeholder input on the Proposed Program to inform the Proposed Final Program – the final of the three proposals - and its accompanying Final PEIS analyses. As such, publication of the Proposed Program initiated a 90-day public comment period, during which four virtual meetings will be held.  

Publication of the NOA in the Federal Register on July 8, 2022, formally starts the 90-day public comment period.

When the Proposed Final Program and Final PEIS are published, the Secretary will wait at least 60 days to officially approve the program and finalize the Record of Decision.   

Click on the “How to Comment” tab above for directions on how to comment on the Proposed Program and Draft PEIS.

Comments on the Proposed Program or Draft Programmatic EIS may be submitted in one of the following ways: 

Publication of the NOA in the Federal Register on July 8, 2022, formally starts the 90-day public comment period which will close on Thursday, October 6, 2022.

1. Through the Regulations.gov web portal:
    
   • Navigate to http://www.regulations.gov and under the Search tab, in the space provided, type in Docket ID: BOEM-2022-0031 to submit comments and to view other comments already submitted.
      
   • Information on using www.regulations.gov, including instructions for accessing documents, submitting comments, and viewing the docket after the close of the comment period, is available through the links under the box entitled, “Are you new to this site?” 
2. Mailed in an envelope labeled “Comments for the 2023-2028 National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Proposed Program”
    
   • Mailed or sent by delivery service to:
     Ms. Kelly Hammerle, Chief, National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program Development and Coordination Branch
     Leasing Division, Office of Strategic Resources, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (VAM-LD) 
     45600 Woodland Road
     Sterling, VA 20166-9216 

The previous Five Year Program information can be found below.

• 2017 - 2022
   
• 2012 - 2017
   
• 2007 - 2012
   
• 2002 - 2007
   
• 1997 - 2002
   
• 1992 - 1997
   
• 1987 - 1992
   
• 1982 - 1987
   
• 1980 - 1985