{"id":150536,"date":"2026-01-26T21:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T21:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/150536\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T21:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T21:35:07","slug":"new-offshore-oil-drilling-leases-offered-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/150536\/","title":{"rendered":"New offshore oil drilling leases offered in California"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                                                        <img width=\"760\" height=\"507\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/web1_2026-01-26T183926Z_474043990_RC2KO8ACWS7W_RTRMADP_3_USA-TRUMP-DRILLING.JPG\" class=\"img-fluid h-100 w-100\" alt=\"REUTERS\/ETIENNE LAURENT \/ JULY 4&#10;                                People swim in front on an offshore oil rig platform in Huntington Beach, Calif.\" style=\"max-height:600px;object-fit:contain;\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>REUTERS\/ETIENNE LAURENT \/ JULY 4<\/p>\n<p>People swim in front on an offshore oil rig platform in Huntington Beach, Calif.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration today invited the oil and gas industry to nominate areas for a potential sale of offshore oil and gas leases in Southern and Central California to be held as soon as next year.<\/p>\n<p>Why it\u2019s important<\/p>\n<p>The move is part of a push by President Donald Trump\u2019s Interior Department to expand offshore drilling. It faces strong opposition in California, a state known for ambitious climate change policies, strong environmental regulations and an iconic coastline.<\/p>\n<p>Key quote<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re taking the first step toward a stronger, more secure American energy future,\u201d Matt Giacona, acting director of Interior\u2019s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>Context<\/p>\n<p>                        Don&#8217;t miss out on what&#8217;s happening!<\/p>\n<p class=\"email-form-blurb m-0\">Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It&#8217;s FREE!<\/p>\n<p>This step aligns with Trump\u2019s energy-dominance agenda, which aims to bolster U.S. fossil fuel production. The United States has not auctioned off Pacific drilling rights since 1984, and California\u2019s coastline has been largely protected from new energy development following a 1969 oil spill in Santa Barbara that inspired key environmental protections.<\/p>\n<p>California Gov. Gavin Newsom and environmental groups have condemned the plan, which could replace a more moderate leasing schedule from the Biden administration. They argue that it threatens California\u2019s coastal economy and ecosystems.<\/p>\n<p>By the numbers<\/p>\n<p>Federal waters accounted for 14% of U.S. oil production in 2024, but Pacific leases contributed just 0.1% of that output, according to government data.<\/p>\n<p>The reply<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump just took another disturbing step toward opening California\u2019s coast to dangerous new offshore drilling,\u201d said Kristen Monsell, oceans legal director at the environmental group Center for Biological Diversity. She warned of risks to communities, wildlife, and California\u2019s renowned coastline, calling it \u201ca reckless attempt to sell out our coastline to oil companies.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s next<\/p>\n<p>The oil and gas industry and the public have 30 days to provide comments to BOEM. The first lease sales in Southern and Central California are tentatively scheduled for 2027.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"REUTERS\/ETIENNE LAURENT \/ JULY 4 People swim in front on an offshore oil rig platform in Huntington Beach,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,13],"class_list":{"0":"post-150536","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news","11":"tag-politics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}