Oil production has increased to 13.6 million barrels per day under Trump, just shy of an all-time record
The Department of the Interior announced Friday that it will hold an offshore oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of America as part of its efforts to boost production and drive consumer prices down.
The agency said it expects to publish a notice of sale in June, which will formally initiate the lease sale process. Undiscovered fields in the Gulf of America contain an estimated 29.59 billion barrels of oil and 54.84 trillion cubic feet of natural gas—resources that could be a boon to the American economy and help curb prices, according to the Interior Department.
“Unlike under President Biden, we will not leave our critical energy resources locked up when so many Americans are suffering through the unnecessarily high cost of living imposed by the previous administration,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said in a statement. “Unleashing America’s energy resources will lower prices at the pump, at the grocery store and across all aspects of American life while strengthening our national security.”
The announcement is the latest example of the Trump administration’s “drill, baby, drill” agenda and represents yet another stark departure from the Interior Department’s climate-focused actions under the Biden administration. Former interior secretary Deb Haaland sought to halt the agency’s offshore oil and gas leasing program altogether and attempted to cancel planned sales, though those efforts were overturned by multiple courts.
The lease sale is also set to be the first to be held in the Gulf of America under the Trump administration and since President Donald Trump renamed the basin.
Since Trump took office, the Interior Department has held several onshore oil and gas lease sales across five states—Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Nevada. The sales garnered more than $39 million and “reflect an ongoing focus on unleashing domestic energy production, supporting job growth, and reducing reliance on foreign resources,” the Bureau of Land Management said.
But offshore leasing is often more lucrative for the federal government and generally attracts more industry interest. The most recent Gulf of America lease sale, which a federal appeals court ordered the Biden administration to hold, generated $382.2 million for 311 tracts spanning 1.7 million acres.
“I want to thank the administration and Secretary Burgum for their diligent work in advancing Gulf of America Lease Sale 262,” said Erik Milito, the president of the National Ocean Industries Association, an industry group that represents offshore energy developers. “We recognize their timely action in restoring predictability and normalcy to the Gulf’s offshore energy sector through this critical lease sale.”
“The Gulf of America remains a cornerstone of America’s energy security, economic vitality, and job creation, supporting hundreds of thousands of domestic jobs and driving billions in investment,” Milito added. “By moving forward with Lease Sale 262, the administration is hanging an ‘open for business’ sign in the Gulf of America—a move that will be a boon for our nation. NOIA and our members look forward to working with policymakers to sustain the Gulf’s role as a global leader in responsible energy production.”
The Gulf of America produces about 1.8 million barrels of oil per day—more than every state except Texas and New Mexico, according to the latest federal data.
Overall, since Trump’s inauguration, oil production on federal lands has ticked up about 2.6 percent, from 13.2 million barrels a day to 13.6 million barrels a day, just shy of the all-time high set in December. Gas prices have remained relatively steady in Trump’s first weeks, increasingly slightly from $3.23 per gallon to $3.29 per gallon on average.
