Southern California Oil Leases: Nominate Spots by February Deadline
Published Date: 1/27/2026
Notice
Summary
The government is asking companies and the public for ideas and info about possible oil and gas lease sales off Southern California’s coast. This is an early step to help plan future lease sales, but no final decisions have been made yet. If you want to share your thoughts or nominate areas, you need to do it by February 26, 2026.
Analyzed Economic Effects
5 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.
Industry Can Nominate Offshore Blocks
Oil and gas companies and other interested parties can nominate whole or partial OCS blocks in the Southern California Call Area for possible inclusion in proposed lease sales and must rank each nomination as 1 (high), 2 (medium), or 3 (low). BOEM considers block nominations proprietary, asks nominators to mark proprietary pages "Confidential--Contains Proprietary Information," and will not release information that identifies a particular nomination with a particular party.
Potential Conflicts for Fisheries & Recreation
BOEM is asking for information on potential use conflicts in the Call Area including navigation, recreation, and fisheries so it can identify areas for analysis and possible mitigation during lease planning. If you work in fishing, recreation, or navigation off California’s coast, BOEM requests comments and data about conflicts and conditions for consideration.
Programmatic EIS Will Analyze Impacts
BOEM intends to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Programmatic EIS) that will analyze a representative California proposed lease sale and evaluate potential effects on human, marine, and coastal environments; the EIS may propose measures and lease stipulations to mitigate adverse impacts. The Programmatic EIS will be supplemented as necessary for individual Central and Southern California lease decisions.
Tribal, State, Federal Consultations Planned
BOEM will conduct consultations with Tribal Nations, States, and Federal agencies (addressing laws such as the Coastal Zone Management Act, Endangered Species Act, Magnuson-Stevens Act, and Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act) and will use information from those consultations to inform the Secretary’s leasing decisions.
Call Area Defined: ~68 Million Acres
The Southern California Call Area covers approximately 68 million acres offshore California, extending from the 3-nautical-mile State submerged lands boundary west to the OCS boundary (roughly between 117.2° W and 126.4° W longitude and from about 30.5° N to 35.8° N latitude). BOEM posted maps and Official Protraction Diagrams on its website for reference.
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Key Dates
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