The Trump administration is planning to open the California coast to oil drilling lease sales for the first time in a while.
The plan, seen in a draft map reviewed by The Washington Post, proposes six offshore lease sales between 2027 and 2030 along the California coast.
California has not issued new offshore oil and gas leases in state waters since 1994, when a state law was passed following a history of oil spills. A long-standing moratorium on federal leases beyond state waters has largely been in place since the 1980s.
Under the plan, the US is also considering expanding drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, an area mostly left alone because of Florida’s opposition due to fears of oil spills. The administration is considering lease sales there in 2029 and 2030.
For this to happen, Trump would need to reverse a moratorium on leasing in the eastern Gulf issued in his first term. The moratorium is set to expire in 2032.
In Alaska, more than 20 lease sales are being considered through 2031 in almost all offshore areas, including in the High Arctic, over 320 km offshore in the Arctic Ocean.
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California since 2019, said that the proposal was “dead on arrival.”
“Over our dead body. Period. Full Stop. Trump wants to open up the coast of California to oil drilling, but he has no interest in opening up oil drilling rigs right off the coast of Florida, not right across the street from Mar-a-Lago. It’s never going to happen,” he added.
The offshore oil plan, if passed, would remain in place for five years. This is on top of a huge number of offshore oil lease sales approved in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill – 30 lease auctions in the Gulf of Mexico over the next 15 years and six off Alaska in the next 10 years.
In a best-case scenario for the administration, the proposal is probably at least a year away from final approval.
