Offshore Oil Drilling Debate Updates: Proposed New Lease Sales and Environmental Groups Efforts to Stop Them

The future of offshore drilling just became more unclear. On November 20, 2025, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (Bureau) announced a proposed 5-year plan to reopen areas of the continental shelf for offshore drilling that had previously been closed.¹ This announcement comes days after Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum issued Secretary’s Order 3445, which terminated the Biden Administration’s 2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, which proposed only 3 new lease sales in the Gulf—the fewest number of sales ever—and directed the Bureau to begin developing “a new, more expansive” program as soon as possible.² The proposed new plan calls for 34 lease sales, covering over 1.27 billion acres, in the Gulf and off the coasts of Alaska and California. Many of these areas had previously been closed by past presidents in order to protect sensitive ecosystems and prevent future oil spills.³

Secretary Burgum’s order comes as part of the administration’s larger push to produce more domestic oil and gas. Since issuing Executive Order 14154 in January 2025, the Trump Administration has continued to push for drilling in both previously closed coastal waters and on federal lands.⁴ However, even though more lands and offshore leases will be actioned off annually, interest for new leases is stalling. For instance, in January 2025, the Bureau of Land Management did not receive any bids in a lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.⁵ Similarly, in 2024, an Alaskan state oil and gas auction for the Cook Inlet basin resulted in only 3 bids.⁶

The success of these new potential lease sales remains to be seen. Even if the sales go through, the Bureau and oil companies face tough opposition by environmental groups, states, and local officials fighting to protect their coasts, below are two examples.

I. Environmental groups sue to block offshore lease sales

On November 18, 2025, several environmental groups, represented by Earthjustice, sued Secretary Burgum, the U.S. Department of Interior, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and Acting Director Giacona (collectively, the Bureau), over a proposed lease sale in the Gulf, claiming that it violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Administrative Procedure Act (APA).⁷ In their suit, the environmental groups claimed that the Bureau, in an effort to hold a lease sale on December 10, 2025, had violated NEPA by not preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the sale. The Bureau argues that they are not required follow NEPA procedures because the lease sale is required by the budget reconciliation bill (Pub. L. No. 119-21) passed by congress in July 2025.

The December 10th lease sale is the first of 30 lease sales in the Gulf mandated by the bill to happen between now and 2040.⁸ The environmental groups are asking the court to prevent the lease sales until the Bureau has fully complied with NEPA and the APA.

For more on offshore oil development, see: “President Biden and Trump’s Offshore Drilling Debate: Expanding or Restricting U.S. Energy Resources?”

II. Update on efforts to stop Sable from reopening Santa Ynez Unit

Even if the proposed lease sales occur, oil companies will still have to comply with state permitting requirements. For some, this may prove difficult. The Law Center has previously written about how Sable Offshore Corp. (Sable), a Houston-based company, is attempting to restart the Santa Ynez oil platforms and Las Flores pipelines (collectively, Santa Ynez Unit) without complying with federal or state regulations. Now we have more updates on recent actions to stop Sable by state and county officials.

On October 3, 2025, California Attorney General Rob Bonta (AG Bonta) sued Sable for violating the California Water Code.⁹ Filed on behalf of the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board), AG Bonta alleges that, in order to meet their July 2025 deadline to restart the Santa Ynez Unit, Sable “intentionally ignored” the requirements under the California Water Code to obtain discharge permits before repeatedly dumping discharged waste into state waters. Additionally, AG Bonta, claims that when approached by Water Board officials during their investigation, Sable refused to provide documentation and information regarding the discharges.

Additionally, on November 4, 2025, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors voted to deny the transfer of ExxonMobil’s permits to Sable. In order to receive the permits, Sable “had to demonstrate that it had the training, skills, and resources to operate” the unit responsibly.¹⁰ Without the permits, Sable cannot legally restart oil drilling at the Santa Ynez Unit. The Board of Supervisors directed their staff to prepare findings to support the denial for their final vote, which will be held on December 16, 2025.

For more information on Sable’s attempt to restart the Santa Yenez Unit, see: “Oil Company Faces Legal Pushback for Attempted Restart of Santa Barbara Pipeline”

¹ Press Release, Interior Launches Expansive 11th National Offshore Leasing Program to Advance U.S. Energy Dominance, Sec. Interior (Nov. 11, 2025).
² Unleashing American Offshore Energy, Sec. Order No. 3445.
³ Rachel Nostrant, Exclusive: Leaked Documents Detail Trump’s Plans to Open East and West Coasts to Offshore Oil Drilling, Houston Chronicle (Oct. 21, 2025).
⁴ Geoff Bennett et al., Trump Pushes For More Oil and Gas Production and a Roll-back of Climate Initiatives, PBS New Hour (Jan. 22, 2025).
⁵ Hilde-Gunn Bye, No Bids in Arctic Nation Wildlife Refuge Oil Lease Sale, High North News (Jan. 14, 2025).
⁶ Yereth Rosen, Royalty-Free Terms Draw Only Three Oil and Gas Lease Bids In Alaska’s Cook Inlet, Alaska News (Jun. 13, 2024).
⁷ Complaint, Healthy Gulf v. Burgum, 25-cv-04016 (D.D.C filed Nov. 18, 2025).
⁸ Press Release, Lawsuit Challenges First Offshore Oil Sale of New Trump Administration, Earthjustice (Nov. 18, 2025); Keith Goldberg, Green Groups Sue to Block Gulf Oil and Gas Lease Sales, Law360 (Nov. 19, 2025).

⁹ Complaint, People of California v. Sable Offshore Corp. (Cal. Super. Ct., filed Oct. 3, 2025).
¹⁰ Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors Rejects Permits For Sable Offshore Corp., Env't Defense Ctr. (Nov. 4, 2025).