Press Releases

The U.S. Department of Interior has finalized the country’s five-year plan for offshore energy development, offering just three sales in the Gulf of Mexico over the 2024-2029 period. The average number of lease sales in previous plans has been 24.5 lease sales over the five-year period. 

“Russia, China, Iran, and Venezuela are cheering on this Administration’s energy policies, which not only fatten their wallets, but leave Americans paying higher prices for basic necessities,” said Graves. “Congress is going to need to step in – yet again – to pass legislation like the BRIDGE Production Act to force President Biden to meet America’s energy needs with American resources.”

This announcement comes at a time when 1 in 4 Americans have to choose between paying for necessary expenses such as food and medicine or paying their electricity bill. The final plan will reduce the United States’ oil supply by nearly one million barrels per day and will ensure continued reliance on foreign energy instead of energy produced here in the United States.  

Under President Biden, the Department of Interior’s offshore oil and gas leasing program lapsed for the first time ever in June of 2022. After a year and a half without a strategic leasing plan, the administration broke another record by finalizing a plan with the fewest lease sales in the program's history.