Lift the moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal land and offshore
Lift the moratorium on oil and gas leasing on federal land and offshore.
Occurrences
Evidence
BLM announced a July 14, 2026 oil and gas lease sale offering 66 parcels totaling 29,087 acres in Montana and North Dakota. The notice says leasing is the first step in developing federal oil and gas resources and that the agency is continuing its regular lease-sale process.
BOEM's BBG2 lease-sale page shows the agency held the March 11, 2026 offshore lease sale and posted Phase 2 acceptance updates through May 13, 2026. The page states the sale is one of thirty Gulf of America lease sales required by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and lists current sale documents and bid-evaluation materials.
Assessments
The promised outcome was to lift the moratorium on federal onshore and offshore oil and gas leasing. The evidence shows both categories are now actively proceeding during Zinke's current federal term: BLM announced a July 14, 2026 federal oil and gas lease sale for Montana and North Dakota parcels, and BOEM held a March 11, 2026 offshore Gulf lease sale with continuing bid-evaluation updates. That is inconsistent with an ongoing moratorium and satisfies the substantive promise in the relevant federal-office context.