Interior Announces Postponement of Public Scoping Meetings on Virginia Offshore Oil and Gas Lease Sale

The Department of the Interior today announced that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management successfully conducted Lease Sale Big Beautiful Gulf 1, which is the first mandatory offshore oil and gas lease sale required under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The sale generated $279,433,757 in high bids for 181 blocks across 80 million acres in federal waters of the Gulf of America. Thirty companies submitted 219 bids totalling $371,881,093.

The Department of the Interior today announced a Secretary’s Order titled “Unleashing American Offshore Energy,” directing the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to take the necessary steps, in accordance with federal law, to terminate the restrictive Biden 2024–2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program and replace it with a new, expansive 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program by October 2026. As part of this directive, the Department is releasing the Secretary’s Draft Proposed Program for the 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program.

The U.S. Department of the Interior, through the U.S. Geological Survey, today released the draft 2025 List of Critical Minerals and a report that outlines a new model for assessing how potential supply chain disruptions could affect the U.S. economy.