The US Interior Department took several steps last week to advance oil and gas development by easing permitting for winter exploration in Alaska, proposing major offshore lease sales in the Gulf of America and Cook Inlet, and preparing to offer additional federal acreage in Colorado and Nevada.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oct. 8 established new categorical exclusions to streamline winter oil and gas exploration in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR-A). The measure covers seismic surveys, exploration wells, and related plugging and abandonment work, allowing qualifying projects to proceed without a project-specific, in-depth review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

BLM said it developed the exclusion after reviewing decades of previous environmental assessments for winter exploration in the reserve. It said it would still review projects for extraordinary circumstances, including potential effects on endangered species and cultural resources or other conditions that could result in significant environmental impacts.

The move is the latest in a series of Trump administration actions to expand oil and gas development in the NPR-A. Interior previously rescinded a 2024 rule restricting development in the reserve and reopened nearly 82% of the area to oil and gas leasing.

Interior also advanced plans for two major offshore lease sales scheduled for March 2027.

On Oct. 9, the Marine Minerals Administration (MMA) proposed offering about 1.05 million acres in northern Cook Inlet, Alaska, through the Big Beautiful Cook Inlet 2 sale. The proposed sale would include 224 blocks stretching roughly from Kalgin Island in the north to Augustine Island in the south, with a royalty rate of 12.5%.

The sale is the second Cook Inlet auction required under the Working Families Tax Cut Act of 2025. The first sale, held in March 2026, offered acreage in the same northern planning area but attracted no bids.

A day earlier, on Oct. 8, MMA proposed offering about 80.4 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico through the Big Beautiful Gulf 4 lease sale. The proposed sale would include about 15,104 unleased blocks and carry a 12.5% royalty rate.

The Working Families Tax Cut Act requires Interior to hold at least 30 Gulf oil and gas lease sales through 2040. The first three sales mandated under the law, held in 2025 and 2026, generated a combined $430 million in high bids.

BLM also announced plans for December onshore oil and gas lease sales in Colorado and Nevada.

The agency plans to offer 113 parcels totaling about 126,440 acres in Colorado on Dec. 8. A sale scheduled for Dec. 9 in Nevada would offer three parcels totaling 2,601 acres.