December Oil and Gas Lease Sale: BLM Opens 35,000 Acres in California
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On December 1, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) will auction approximately 35,000 acres of federal land in California for oil and gas leasing. The sale features 43 parcels distributed across Kern, Kings, Fresno, and San Luis Obispo counties.
This upcoming auction follows BLM decisions in June that cleared the way for federal leasing to resume in the Bakersfield and Central Coast planning areas, ending years of litigation and environmental reviews.
The vast majority of federal drilling in California is concentrated in Kern County, which accounts for over 95% of the state’s federal oil and gas activity. This sector supports roughly 3,500 jobs and generates more than $200 million in annual economic activity. Federal royalties from this production range between $65 million and $90 million annually, with about half of those funds returned to the state of California.
The scope of the December lease sale was scaled back slightly from an August proposal, which originally included 44 parcels spanning 36,000 acres. A 30-day public protest window opened on Wednesday and will close on November 2. Winning bidders will still need to submit individual drilling applications, which must undergo separate BLM reviews and environmental assessments before any physical operations can start.
The lease sale comes as California grows more reliant on foreign energy sources. Data from the California Energy Commission shows that state refineries imported 119.9 million barrels of foreign crude during the first half of 2026, representing about 56% of their total supply. In comparison, locally sourced California crude accounted for only 25%, with Alaska providing the bulk of the remainder. This trend follows 2025 figures, where foreign imports made up 61.1% of the state’s refined crude, while in-state production contributed just 22.9%.
While the December auction will allocate the rights to these 35,000 acres, actually bringing any new oil to market remains years away due to the extensive permitting processes required.
