OCS resource update

BOEM issues 2026 assessment of undiscovered O&G on US outer continental shelf

Kristen Nelson

Petruleum News

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has issued its 2026 Assessment of Undiscovered Oil and Gas Resources for the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, providing 'estimates of undiscovered, technically and economically recoverable oil and natural gas resources outside of known oil and gas fields on the OCS.'

BOEM said the 2026 assessment is a multi-year effort including data and information available Jan. 1, 2024.

For the entire OCS, estimates of undiscovered technically recoverable resources, UTRR, range from 53.75 billion barrels of oil at the 95th percentile, a 95% probability, or a 19 in 20 chance, to 79.65 billion barrels of oil at the fifth percentile, a 5% or 1 in 20 chance, with a mean of 65.80 billion barrels.

Gas estimates range from 170.41 trillion cubic feet to 270.97 tcf with a mean of 218.43 tcf.

On a barrel of oil equivalent basis, the combination of oil and gas, the Alaska OCS contains the most resources, 44% of total UTRR, BOEM said, followed by the Gulf of America with 33%, with the Pacific third and Atlantic fourth.

Undiscovered economically recoverable resources, UERR, are ranked based on price per barrel for oil and price per thousand cubic feet for gas, with a range of prices ' for oil, $30, $30, $60, $100 and $160 per barrel. For gas, the prices used are much higher for Alaska than for the Lower 48. For the Lower 48, gas is priced at 30% of the economic value of oil; for Alaska it is priced at 100%.

BOEM estimates that some 60% of OCS resources remain undiscovered after more than 70 years of OCS exploration and development, with some 33% of resources produced and 7% discovered reserves and contingent resources.