Trump Admin Invites Oil Industry Input on New California Offshore Leaseshttps://www.theepochtimes.com/us/trump-admin-invites-oil-industry-input-on-new-california-offshore-leases-5976924?utm_source=partner&utm_campaign=BonginoReport&src_src=partner&src_cmp=BonginoReportThe Trump administration on Jan. 26 took its first step toward offering new offshore oil and gas drilling leases in California, inviting industry nominations for potential sales in federal waters off the state’s central and southern coasts.
The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a call for information, seeking input on potential lease areas for auctions as early as 2027.
The action follows Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s November order, “Unleashing American Offshore Energy,” which directed the agency to scrap the Biden administration’s 2024–2029 leasing program and expand access to offshore resources.
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The proposal, part of a draft five-year plan released in November 2025, envisions up to 34 lease sales across 1.27 billion acres, including six off California’s Pacific coast between 2027 and 2030. It reverses Biden-era restrictions and breaks decades of precedent in federal drilling policy near California.
Part of the context to this is a company has bought an idled oil platform off the Santa Barbara coast from (IIRC) Chevron. The company is in a fight with CA Envirocrats and Goobernor Noisome over re-opening the pipeline that would bring the oil onshore. The platform and pipeline have been repaired/restored, but the State of CA has some jurisdiction over the pipeline, since it goes through CA's 3-mile territorial water. CA does not have jurisdiction over the oil platform, as it is outside of those 3 miles but within the US's territorial waters.
Apparently, the company has the ability to bypass CA's enviro-obstruction by pumping the crude oil into tankers, but using the pipeline is less complicated. This is being fought in courts at present.
