(UPI) — The Department of Interior on Thursday released an analysis of fossil fuel deposits showing an additional 1.30 billion barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico’s Outer Continental Shelf.
According to the Interior Department, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management analysis shows “an estimated 7.04 billion barrels of oil equivalent” under the water.
“This new data confirms what we’ve known all along — America is sitting on a treasure trove of energy, and under President Trump’s leadership, we’re unlocking it,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgham said in a statement.
Burgham touted ramping up oil and gas drilling in coastal areas.
In 2023, 32 oil companies bid $309 million for Gulf drilling rights.
Chevron alone accounted for $104 million of that.
While much of the developed world turns toward green energy, the Trump administration is instead doubling down on fossil fuels.
The Interior Department said Burgham has directed BOEM to move forward with offshore oil and gas drilling.
It’s a marked contrast to the Biden administration approach of prohibiting new oil drilling along the U.S. Atlantic and Pacific coasts, as well as in the Gulf.
Biden said in January that drilling off these coasts “could cause irreversible damage to places we hold dear and is unnecessary to meet the nation’s energy needs.”
He added that the climate crisis continues to threaten communities across the U.S., and a transition to a clean energy economy is needed.
In 2020 a study found the BP’s Deepwater Horizon 2010 Gulf oil spill was bigger than previously thought. The biggest oil spill in U.S. history spewed 210 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf.
It created an oil slick thought to cover 57,000 square miles at the time, but Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science found it was much larger and was toxic to marine life.
As the Trump administration pushes more fossil fuel production from the Gulf, the Interior Department on Thursday also said it’s tossing a requirement to prepare environmental impact statements for approximately 3,244 oil and gas leases covering 3.5 million acres in seven western states.
BP Makes Oil Discovery in Gulf of Mexico
By Sheila Dang | BP said on Monday that it has made an oil discovery at the Far South field in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The energy major is seeking to grow production under a strategy reset announced earlier this year.
The exploration well was drilled in Green Canyon Block 584, about 120 miles (193.12 km) off the coast of Louisiana. Both the initial well and a sidetrack encountered oil. The company said in a statement that preliminary data indicates a potentially commercial volume of oil and gas.
It also said it plans to increase output in the Gulf of Mexico to 400,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030. It expects global production to reach 2.3 million to 2.5 million boepd by the decade’s end, with potential to grow through 2035.
London-listed shares of BP were up 4.72% in early trade.
BP is the operator of Far South with a 57.5% interest, while partner Chevron holds 42.5%.
In February, BP announced a strategy shift to address its underperformance. It cut planned investment in renewable energy to refocus on oil and gas.
Around 1 million boepd are expected to be delivered from the U.S. onshore and offshore regions by 2030.
BP plans to explore the ocean basin more. CEO Murray Auchincloss told a conference last month that it has approved the development of the Kaskida oilfield, which lies in a complex geological structure called the Paleogene, and plans to proceed with a second Paleogene development, Tiber, later this year.
(Reporting by Sheila Dang in Houston, additional reporting by Arunima Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler and Barbara Lewis)
