U.S. crude oil production from onshore federal lands hit a record 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024, according to the EIA and the Department of the Interior. That’s a sixfold jump since 2008—far outpacing the broader rise in national crude output, which nearly tripled to 13.2 million bpd over the same period. The driver? An explosion of activity in New Mexico’s portion of the Permian Basin, where leasing, permitting, and drilling have surged in recent years.
From FY2020 through FY2023, New Mexico accounted for the majority of federal land drilling permits approved and well bores started. The state has quietly become the epicenter of the federal onshore oil boom, combining geological riches with favorable permitting conditions and existing infrastructure.
Federal offshore oil, by contrast, hasn’t kept pace. While output from the Gulf of Mexico did edge up, it remained at 1.8 million bpd in 2024—slightly ahead of federal onshore levels, but with far more sluggish growth.
Natural gas tells a slightly different story. Onshore federal lands produced 4.2 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas in 2024, up from 3.2 Tcf in 2020. That rise tracked closely with national gas production, which climbed from 33.8 Tcf to 37.8 Tcf during the same period. The share of U.S. natural gas coming from onshore federal lands rose modestly—from 9.6% to 11%—marking a small but notable reversal in what had been a long-term decline.
Meanwhile, federal offshore gas production continues to fade, slumping to just 0.8 Tcf in 2024—less than one-third of its 2005 level. In other words, the new growth frontier isn’t under the sea, but under the sagebrush.
By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com
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