Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced his plans for the development of the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (National OCS Program) for 2019-2024. The new Draft Proposed Program (DPP) aims to make more than 98 percent of the undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and gas resources in the OCS available for leasing and exploration. Less than a week after release of the DPP, Secretary Zinke informally announced that all of Florida’s coastline would be removed from consideration in the proposed five-year leasing program, prompting questions from various lawmakers and other stakeholders about the apparent preferential treatment given to the state.

On May 10, the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced that it will reconsider applications from ocean seismic survey companies to carry out geological and geophysical activities off the Atlantic coast.

Jim Bennett is the new chief of the Renewable Energy Programs Office at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), a position left empty since Maureen Bornholdt retired last year.

On February 20, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) in conjunction with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) proposed rules for future oil and gas drilling on 128 million acres in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas as allocated in the BOEM’s 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Plan.

On February 12, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) released their final environmental review for oil and gas leases in the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska.

In late January, the Obama administration and federal agencies proposed new policies governing Arctic oil and gas exploration.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced its 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing program which includes plans to open the Atlantic Ocean for oil and gas leasing.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell named Abigail Ross Hopper as Director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on December 18.