New tracker monitors Trump administration permitting activity
DENVER—As the government shutdown enters its fourth week, a new analysis by the Center for Western Priorities finds the Trump administration is issuing new oil and gas drilling permits just as fast as before the shutdown.
In the first three weeks of the government shutdown, the Bureau of Land Management has approved 308 applications for permits to drill (APDs) on national public lands. The majority of those permits (245) are in New Mexico, with another 38 in Wyoming. The rest of the permits were issued in Utah, Texas, North Dakota, Montana, and Oklahoma.
The Center for Western Priorities’ new Oil & Gas Government Shutdown Tracker monitors the approval of federal onshore oil and gas drilling permits during the ongoing 2025 government shutdown. The tracker will be regularly updated and expanded to include federal oil and gas leases, if and when leases are issued during the shutdown.
CWP’s analysis found that BLM has issued an average of 15.4 permits per day during the shutdown, which is consistent with the rate of permitting since June 2025:
The Center for Western Priorities has also added a table to our Trump Drilling Dashboard to track the amount of future royalty revenue lost due to changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA):
The OBBBA reduced the royalty rate companies pay on oil and gas extracted from federal land by 25 percent—from 16.67 to 12.5 percent—allowing operators to deliver significantly less revenue to taxpayers over the lifetime of a well. While both Congress and the Trump administration have misleadingly touted this change as making oil and gas development on public lands more economically attractive to industry, the federal royalty rate has little bearing on companies’ interest in acquiring leases in the places they’ve always wanted to develop. Rather, OBBBA’s reduction of the onshore royalty rate by 25 percent will do significant harm to oil and gas producing states by reducing important revenue that is used to fund schools and public infrastructure projects.
The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Communications Manager Kate Groetzinger:
“Deeming oil and gas leasing and permitting as ‘essential’ during this shutdown sends a clear message that the Trump administration cares more about appeasing the oil and gas industry than it does about reopening the government and restoring the critical services federal agencies provide to American families. Oil companies will continue to get their leases and permits while trash cans and pit toilets fill up and overflow across our public lands.”
“Reducing the federal royalty rate hurts Western states and communities, while essentially giving the oil and gas industry a giant tax break. Oil CEOs have made it clear in public statements that they have no intention of passing these savings on to Americans at the pump. Instead, they plan to pocket the billions in lost federal revenue for themselves and their shareholders. This is one of the most egregious examples of the Trump administration and Congress selling out taxpayers to the fossil fuel industry.”