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2007-2012 5-Year Program

bullet Current 5-Year Program Lease Sale Schedule

A 5-year program consists of a schedule of oil and gas lease sales indicating the size, timing, and location of proposed leasing activity the Secretary determines will best meet national energy needs for the 5-year period following its approval. An area must be included in the current 5-year program in order to be offered for leasing.  Section 18 (132.38 KB PDF) of the OCS Lands Act (286.05 KB PDF) prescribes the major steps (17.68 KB PDF) involved in developing a 5-year program including extensive opportunities for public comment.  A 5-year program balances energy needs, environmental considerations, and numerous other factors required under Section 18.

The current 5-year program is the Revised OCS Oil & Gas Leasing Program for 2007- 2012, which was effective December 23, 2010.  It replaced the original version of the OCS Program for 2007-2012, which became effective on July 1, 2007, but was challenged in court.  (See History of the Current 5-Year Program and Related Litigation).

The Revised Program (RP) includes sixteen sales—some of which have been cancelled—in six areas: the 11 area-wide sales in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico (GOM); a sale in the Eastern GOM; a sale in the Mid-Atlantic 50 miles offshore Virginia; 2 special interest sales in Cook Inlet (Alaska); and a sale in the Chukchi Sea (Alaska). Eastern Gulf Sale 224 is included on the list of sales as a historical record of lease sale activity during the time period. It was mandated by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 and not subject to OCS Lands Act section 18 analysis.

On May 27, 2010, the Secretary cancelled Mid-Atlantic Sale 220 offshore Virginia to allow time to implement measures designed to improve the safety of oil and gas development in Federal waters, provide greater environmental protection, and substantially reduce the risk of catastrophic events, as well as to allow additional consultations with the Department of Defense on military training requirements in the area.  He also cancelled Western Gulf Sale 215, scheduled for August 2010, in light of the need for time to determine whether the baseline environmental information utilized in the multi-sale EIS conducted for this lease sale may have changed dramatically, as a result of the April 2010 explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon. In addition, Cook Inlet Sale 211 was cancelled due to lack of industry interest, and the second Cook Inlet sale will be cancelled in the near future as well.  Typically, a 5-year program is not revised to reflect cancellations of sales that occurred as the result of the pre-sale process; accordingly, these sales remain in the RP.  Central GOM Sale 216 is being combined with Central Sale 222.

bullet December 1, 2010, announcement of Revised Program and OCS Oil & Gas Strategy
 
bullet 2007-2012 Revised Program Fact Sheet 
 
bullet History of the Current 5-Year Program and Related Litigation
 
bullet Additional 2007-2012 Background Documents
 
bullet Past 5-year Programs

Last Updated: 02/23/2011, 08:16 AM Central Time