Biden Administration Unveils Historic Oil Lease Sales Amid Climate Goals, Plans Three Gulf Sales by 2029.

The Biden administration has announced plans to hold three oil lease sales off the nation’s coasts over the next five years, under the smallest national oil program in the country’s history. The schedule includes oil sales in the Gulf of Mexico in 2025, 2027 and 2029, far less than the previous oil program, inked during the Obama administration and ending in 2022. The program takes a middle-of-the-road approach that is characteristic of how the administration has tried to square its management of the nation’s oil reserves with its broader strategy to address climate change. The final schedule must go through a 60-day congressional and presidential review period before it can formally approve it. The administration has committed to reaching 110 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2050, a goal that requires additional offshore wind lease sales.