U.S. natural gas dry production. [xi] The Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Region is broken up into three planning areas: 1. the Western Planning Area (off the coast of Texas), 2. the Central Planning Area (off the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama), and 3. the Eastern Planning Area (off the coast of Florida). [xii] The Eastern Planning Area, which is one of the targeted locations, only has thirteen leases, totaling 74,880 acres leased. [xiii] With a total of 64,357,859 acres in the Eastern Planning Area, a large amount of the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Region was removed by President Biden through OCSLA. [xiv] Previous Curtails of the Offshore Leasing Program by President Biden President Biden has already imposed restrictions on offshore drilling opportunities. In December of 2023, the Department of Interior published the 2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. [xv] This Leasing Program only includes three sales for offshore oil and gas drilling, all in the Gulf of Mexico. [xvi] This is the lowest number in any five-year plan since the government began publishing these reports in 1980. [xvii] President-elect Trump is expected to rewrite the leasing plan; however, the process could take over a year. [xviii] Potential Actions to be Taken by President-Elect Trump President-elect Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has already responded to President Biden’s move, stating that Biden’s efforts would fail after Trump takes office. [xix] However, this is not the first time Trump has tried reversing protections under OSCLA. During his first term in office, then-President Trump issued an Executive Order trying to reverse former President Obama’s withdrawal of 128 million acres of federally owned land in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. [xx] Within days, environmentalists challenged the Executive Order in the federal district court for the District of Alaska. [xxi] On March 29, 2019, the district court vacated Section 5 of the Executive Order and required that the Trump Administration act in conformity with former President Obama’s withdrawal. [xxii] This decision was appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; and, by the time the case was argued and submitted on June 5, 2020, President Biden had already revoked President Trump’s Executive
order, therefore rendering the issue moot. [xxiii] Though there have been modifications made to prior decisions as to which areas could be subject to oil and gas leasing under OCSLA, no court has ever validated a complete reversal of a withdrawal. [xxiv] Prior to President Trump, no president had ever attempted a complete reversal, so the success of future attempts is still possible. [xxv] Official Announcement Made January 6 The decision was “officially” announced Monday, January 6. [xxvi] Climate advocates are praising the decision, while oil industry advocates have warned against the new restrictions. [xxvii] President-elect Trump immediately condemned the action, calling it “ridiculous” and claiming that he will “unban it immediately.” [xxviii] Regardless of whether Trump can or cannot undo the ban, it ultimately may not make much of a difference in US oil production. If anything, the ban is likely to push more production to onshore shale plays, which set new records under the Biden administration. [xii] BOEM Gulf of Mexico OCS Region Blocks and Active Leases by Planning Area January 2, 2025 , Bureau of Ocean Energy Man- agement (Jan. 2, 2025), https://www.boem.gov/sites/default/files/ documents/oil-gas-energy/leasing/regional-leasing/gulf-mexico- region/GOMR-Active-Lease-Map.pdf. [xv] BOEM Announces Next Steps for Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Leasing Program , Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (Dec. 6, 2024), https://www.boem.gov/newsroom/press-releases/boem- announces-next-steps-gulf-mexico-oil-and-gas-leasing-program. [xvi] Nichola Groom & Jarrett Renshaw, Biden angers all sides with scaled back offshore oil drilling plan , Reuters (Sept. 29, 2023, 2:57 PM), https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/us-plans- sharp-reduction-offshore-oil-gas-auctions-2023-09-29/. [xvii] Id. [xviii] Dlouhy, supra note i. [xix] Zach Jewell , ‘Disgraceful Decision’: Trump Press Secretary Blasts Biden’s Move To Block More Offshore Drilling , The Daily Wire (Jan. 3, 2025), https://www.dailywire.com/news/disgraceful- decision-trump-press-secretary-blasts-bidens-move-to-block-more- offshore-drilling. [xx] Tim Briscoe, To Do, and Not to Undo: The Issue of Presi - dential Authority Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act , Environmental Law Institute (Nov. 29, 2017), https://www.eli.org/ vibrant-environment-blog/do-and-not-undo-issue-presidential- authority-under-outer-continental-shelf. [xxi] Id. [xxii] League of Conservation Voters v. Trump, 363 F. Supp. 3d 1013 (D. Alaska 2019). [xiii] Id. [xiv] Id.
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N at i onal A ssociation of D i v i s i on O rder A nalys t s
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