2025 Year in Review: Strengthening America’s Offshore Energy Future

In 2025, BOEM made significant progress in advancing American energy security and responsibly managing the nation's offshore resources. From supporting energy development and assessing critical minerals potential to expanding scientific understanding of deep-sea environments, BOEM helped shape a more secure and informed offshore energy future.

Take a deep dive into our biggest achievements from 2025:

Oil and Gas Energy

Members of the BBG1 Lease Sale Team in New Orleans. Photo by BOEM. BOEM leadership and staff with former Assistant Secretary of Land and Minerals Management Leslie Beyer at the BBG1 lease sale. Photo by BOEM.

In 2025, BOEM advanced U.S. energy development by conducting a landmark oil and gas lease sale, proposing new offshore lease sales, releasing a new and expansive National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program, and updating our Outer Continental Shelf planning areas for oil and gas.

• Advancing Offshore Energy Development with a Landmark Lease Sale: We successfully conducted Lease Sale Big Beautiful Gulf 1, which was the first offshore oil and gas lease sale required under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. The sale generated $300,425,222 in high bids for 181 blocks across 80 million acres in federal waters of the Gulf of America. Thirty companies submitted 219 bids totaling $371,881,093.
  
• Driving Energy Production with a Proposed Second Gulf of America Lease Sale in March 2026: To strengthen U.S. energy dominance, we proposed a second Gulf of America Lease Sale. This sale is the second of thirty Gulf of America oil and gas lease sales required by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
  
• Expanding Energy Development in Alaska's Cook Inlet: We published the Proposed Notice of Sale for Big Beautiful Cook Inlet 1 (BBC1), which would make approximately one million acres available for leasing in Alaska's Cook Inlet. This marks the first of at least six Cook Inlet lease sales required by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, scheduled annually from 2026 to 2028, and from 2030 to 2032.
  
• Proposing a New National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program: In response to the National Energy Emergency, we released the first proposal of a new, expansive 11th National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. This proposal reflects our continued commitment to restore American Energy Dominance and address the nation's growing energy needs.
  
• Refining Our Outer Continental Shelf Planning Areas for Oil and Gas: We updated our Outer Continental Shelf planning areas for oil and gas management, increasing the total from 26 to 27. This included creating a new High Arctic Planning Area and revising other areas to reflect recent changes in U.S. OCS jurisdictional limits.

Marine Minerals

These polymetallic nodules were imaged during the Nautilus cruise in Sept. 2024. Located east of American Samoa and the Rose Atoll, these nodules were found on the Outer Continental Shelf at a depth of about 5,500 meters. Photo by BOEM.

In 2025, we unleashed America's offshore critical minerals and resources by implementing the directives of Executive Order 14285 . Some examples include:

• Taking Action to Unlock Potential Marine Minerals Offshore Virginia: We launched the process for a potential mineral lease sale for heavy mineral sands and other mineral deposits in federal waters off the coast of Virginia. This action-only the third of its kind in more than three decades-represented a significant step toward unlocking the mineral potential of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf and reinforcing the nation's economic and strategic independence.
  
• Advancing Beach Nourishment and Coastal Protection Projects: BOEM supported the use of Outer Continental Shelf sand in beach nourishment and coastal protection projects in North Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana.
  
• Charting the Future for Potential Offshore Minerals in American Samoa: Offshore American Samoa, we explored the potential for seabed mineral leasing and invited public comments on a possible minerals lease sale-this could be the first mineral lease sale in federal waters in over 30 years! We also completed area identification to determine which specific parts of the Outer Continental Shelf offshore American Samoa will undergo environmental review for proposed commercial leases for critical minerals.
  
• Exploring Potential Offshore Minerals in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: BOEM invited the public to submit comments on a potential minerals lease sale offshore the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. At this initial stage in the planning process, public input helps ensure that BOEM's decision-making is locally and scientifically informed.

Renewable Energy

Throughout 2025, BOEM supported efforts to advance the Administration's offshore wind objectives and enhance oversight of offshore wind activities to promote dependable, American-made energy. We worked to align offshore wind regulations with America's energy priorities and acted on directives to reduce preferential treatment for unreliable, foreign-controlled energy sources. BOEM also supported the Administration's efforts to ensure that offshore wind projects do not endanger the environment, U.S. national security, and economic interests.

Environment

In 2025, BOEM supported the responsible and innovative management of offshore development by conducting environmental research and analysis for offshore oil and gas, critical minerals, and sand resources.

Scientists removing top water from a box core sample during the Hawaii Abyssal Nodules Expedition. Photo by USGS. Scientists recovering the shadowgraph camera during the Hawaii Abyssal Nodules Expedition. Photo by USGS.

• Conducting Deep-Sea Research Off Hawaiʻi: This past fall, BOEM scientists explored the remote abyssal plains south of Hawaiʻi Island - one of Earth's least explored environments - with members from the U.S. Geological Survey. During the expedition, the scientists focused on the large, crescent-shaped area of the abyssal plain, known as the "Hawaiian crescent," mapping the seafloor, studying the deep-sea environment, and exploring for critical minerals, all while honoring the cultural significance of Moananuiākea.
  

Photo of HOV Alvin courtesy of The Aleutian Arc: Integrated Exploration of Biodiversity at Priority Benthic Habitats (USGS/BOEM/NOAA/ONR) During the deep-sea expedition along Alaska's Aleutian Arc, HOV Alvin collected a sample of bubblegum coral near a crab. Image courtesy of Amanda Demopoulos/USGS; NOAA Ocean Exploration, ONR, NOPP, BOEM, NOAA IOCM, USGS; ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

• Deepening Our Knowledge of Alaska's Offshore Ecosystems: This past summer, BOEM researchers joined the U.S. Geological Survey on a deep-sea expedition along Alaska's Aleutian Arc to gather vital data on critical marine minerals and deep-sea ecosystems. During the expedition, the scientists collected biological samples, high-resolution seafloor maps, and video footage of the seafloor, all helping to fill critical knowledge gaps in Alaska's offshore ecosystems.
  
• Exploring the Deep: BOEM, USGS and NOAA Join Forces in the Mariana Arc: This past spring, BOEM, USGS and NOAA Occean Exploration came together to support the Ocean Exploration Trust's Exploration Vessel Nautilus on a mission to study the remote and volcanically active waters around Guam and the Mariana Arc. The 21-day expedition mapped the seafloor, investigated underwater volcanoes, and collected important data on ecosystems found in extreme deep ocean conditions. These unique habitats may hold critical minerals vital for modern technologies, making this research essential in supporting resource management priorities.

Hello, 2026!

As we embark on 2026, we remain committed to managing offshore energy, marine mineral and geological resources in a responsible way, while supporting environmental and economic sustainability.

Building on last year's momentum, we are looking forward to continuing to strengthen America's energy future and making a splash in the year ahead!