American Petroleum Institute v. Department of the Interior

On April 30, 2025, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals granted American Petroleum Institute’s (API) motion for voluntary dismissal of its petition for review challenging the 2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program approved by the Biden administration in 2023. API had asked the court to remand the program for the U.S. Department of the Interior to consider whether to schedule more than the three sales over five years that were included in the program. In its motion for voluntary dismissal, API said it was “heartened” by the Interior Department’s announcement on April 18, 2025 that it would develop a new offshore oil and gas leasing program to replace the Biden program. The Interior Department consented to API’s motion, providing a statement in which it said that “[d]eveloping a new schedule for oil and gas leasing on the Outer Continental Shelf is of the highest priority for Interior.” Environmental organizations’ challenge to the Biden administration’s program is still pending and was argued on May 6.

Environmental groups and American Petroleum Institute filed separate petitions for review in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s approval of the 2024-2029 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. The approved program scheduled three Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sales over the five years of the program.