Here’s When Offshore Drilling Could Return To SoCal Under Trump Plan

Offshore oil drilling could begin in Southern California for the first time in decades under a new proposal from the Trump administration to open federal waters off the entire state coastline.

Drilling in the Pacific Ocean could begin as soon as 2027 off Southern and Central California — and in 2029 off Northern California — if President Donald Trump’s offshore plan moves forward. But many state leaders and residents are already mobilizing in opposition.

California hasn't allowed new offshore drilling leases since 1984 following the devastation from a disastrous oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara in 1969. That spill leaked 3 million gallons of crude oil into the ocean, covering beaches with a thick layer of oil and killing thousands of marine mammals and birds.

It was the largest oil spill in U.S. history until the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska two decades later.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who's potentially gearing up for a presidential bid in 2028, has described the plan as "idiotic."

“This reckless attempt to sell out our coastline to his Big Oil donors is dead in the water,” Newsom said in a statement. “Californians remember the environmental and economic devastation of past oil spills. For decades, California has stood firm in our opposition to new offshore drilling, and nothing will change that. We will use every tool at our disposal to protect our coastline.”

On Dec. 4, U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, along with Jared Huffman (D-Calif) and 26 other lawmakers, released a statement against the drilling push.

“We stand united with the overwhelming majority of Californians who fundamentally oppose any proposal that would expand offshore drilling and risk our state’s invaluable, ecologically unique coast,” wrote the lawmakers. “This proposal, coupled with ongoing efforts to reduce federal staffing and funding for agencies that protect our environment, including for safety and oil spill response, is not only dangerous but outright reckless.”

Federal officials have remained determined to push an "energy dominant" agenda forward.

“The Biden administration slammed the brakes on offshore oil and gas leasing and crippled the long-term pipeline of America’s offshore production," said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum. "By moving forward with the development of a robust, forward-thinking leasing plan, we are ensuring that America’s offshore industry stays strong, our workers stay employed, and our nation remains energy dominant for decades to come.”

The draft was published on Nov. 20 by the U.S. Department of the Interior, which left the public a 60-day comment period to voice its concerns. The state's most influential environmental advocates, like Oceana Campaign Director Joseph Gordon, were swift to condemn the proposal.

“This draft plan is an oil spill nightmare," Gordon said. "The last thing America needs now is a massive expansion of offshore drilling that could shut down our shores with catastrophic oil spills. Our coastal communities, and their multi-billion-dollar economies, rely on healthy oceans to survive."

The Surfrider Foundation is also among those raising the alarm about the proposal as California has endured two major oil spills in the last decade — the Refugio State Beach spill and the Huntington Beach spill — even without new drilling.

The state has some two dozen functioning oil platforms in state and federal waters off the coast, but most are considered at or near the end of their productive life.

"Look at the delays we had both off Santa Barbara and off Orange County. The first thing you need to do when the oil starts gushing into the ocean, you need to shut the spigot off, and in both cases the operators failed to do that. So again, this is in the last decade, and the track record is very poor," a Surfrider Foundation representative told ABC10.

The White House has proposed six offshore lease sales in the state between 2027 and 2030. The proposal would also permit offshore drilling in portions of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, including waters off Florida outside a 100-mile buffer. It also calls for new lease sales in the Arctic Ocean. an area oil companies abandoned almost ten years ago after multiple mishaps, fines, government probes and the high-profile grounding of the Kulluk rig.

It would open more than 1 billion acres of federal waters to potential drilling, including designated protected areas.

Offshore operations supply about 15 percent of the nation’s domestic oil, according to the Department of the Interior. Federal estimates indicate the Outer Continental Shelf still holds roughly 68.8 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and 229 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Environmental groups in California have been outspoken in their opposition, but the American Petroleum Institute and other leading oil and gas associations backed reviewing new Outer Continental Shelf leasing areas in a June letter.

“In 2050, as is the case today, more than half of U.S. demand is expected to be met by oil and natural gas,” they wrote. “Continuous exploration and drilling will be needed to meet these expectations.”