BLM Opens 35,000 California Acres to December Oil and Gas Lease Sale
BLM Opens 35,000 California Acres to December Oil and Gas Lease Sale Julianne Geiger is a veteran energy journalist and market analyst with more than a decade of experience covering the global oil and gas sector.
Her… The Bureau of Land Management will offer roughly 35,000 acres in California for oil and gas leasing on December 1, putting 43 parcels in Kern, Kings, Fresno and San Luis Obispo counties on the auction block, theagencysaid on Thursday.
The sale followsBLM decisionsin June that allowed federal oil and gas leasing to resume in its Bakersfield and Central Coast planning areas after years of litigation and environmental review.
Most federal drilling in California already happens in Kern County.
BLM says more than 95% of federal drilling in the state occurs in established Kern County fields, supporting about 3,500 jobs and generating more than $200 million annually.
Federal oil and gas royalties from the region total roughly $65 million to $90 million a year, with about half going back to California.
The December sale has been trimmed slightly since August, when BLM was considering 44 parcels covering about 36,000 acres.
A 30-day protest period opened Wednesday and runs through November 2.
Companies still have to submit individual applications to drill, which will trigger another BLM review and environmental analysis before development can begin.
California has become increasingly dependent on imported crude.
California refineries received 119.9 million barrels of foreign crude during the first six months of 2026, according to California Energy Commission data.
That was about 56% of total refinery crude supply.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | +0.92% |
Comments
Post a Comment