Feds kick off analysis of expanding offshore drilling in California

[Zorro]

Another step has been taken in the Trump administration’s efforts to expand offshore drilling in California — but the process is still in its early stages, and it’s not clear if oil companies are interested in building new platforms off the coast of the Golden State.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has announced its intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for sales of proposed oil and gas leases in Northern, Central and Southern California areas of the Outer Continental Shelf.

That’s the initial step under the National Environmental Policy Act that kicks off the process to analyze potential lease sales.

Managing offshore oil and gas development is a core responsibility of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, known as BOEM. The bureau is an agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Almost immediately after Inauguration Day last year, President Donald Trump issued multiple directives in an executive order titled “Unleashing American Energy.” One of the directives mentioned “exploration and production on federal lands and waters, including on the Outer Continental Shelf, in order to meet the needs of our citizens and solidify the United States as a global energy leader long into the future.”

There are already 23 oil and gas production facilities in federal waters off the coast of California, according to the State Lands Commission, although some of them are no longer profitable to maintain. Twenty-two of those produce oil and gas, while the other is a processing facility.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/02/27/feds-kick-off-analysis-of-expanding-offshore-drilling-in-california/