H.R. 2556: CORE Act of 2025
Sponsor
Wesley Hunt
Republican · TX-38
Bill Progress
Latest Action · Jun 25, 2025
Committee approved bill for floor consideration in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 18.
Congress wants a real count of offshore energy and minerals
Why it matters
Right now the federal government's maps of what oil, gas, and critical minerals sit off America's coasts are decades old in places and only loosely required to be refreshed. H.R. 2556 forces a recount on a clock: a full offshore resource assessment within 1 year, a cross-border drilling report within 18 months, and a head-to-head comparison of U.S. leasing against Russia, Cuba, and three neighboring countries.
The CORE Act of 2025 doesn't open a single acre of ocean to drilling. It's a data-and-reporting bill, built to give Congress a far more detailed picture of what's offshore before any future leasing fights.
The centerpiece is a cross-border drilling report due within 18 months. The Secretaries of Energy, the Interior, and State have to identify oil and gas reservoirs that straddle U.S. maritime boundaries, sort out the legal and treaty questions around them, and review what neighboring countries are doing. That review names five governments specifically: Cuba, Mexico, Canada, the Bahamas, and Russia. It also digs into unresolved U.S.-Canada sea boundaries and floats options for settling them, up to the International Court of Justice.
The bill also overhauls the government's routine offshore inventory. Instead of a one-off study, it requires a fresh count at least every 5 years covering the Atlantic, the Pacific off California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, Alaska, the Gulf of America, and U.S. territories. (The bill swaps the old 'Gulf of Mexico' label for 'Gulf of America.') That count can't stop at how much oil is down there. It has to estimate global market impact, break out direct, indirect, and induced jobs, and measure how keeping areas off-limits affects national security and the revenue coastal states share. It also widens the lens past oil and gas to stone, sand, gravel, and offshore critical minerals.
Interior gets a homework assignment on its own math, too. Within 1 year it has to assess how accurate its resource-estimating models are, working with the National Petroleum Council, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and the United States Association for Energy Economics, then either update the models or publish a report explaining why it didn't.
Finally, the bill orders an international scorecard, due within 1 year and posted on Interior's website. It benchmarks U.S. offshore practice against every major offshore-producing country on the metrics industry actually watches: acres offered for lease, how often auctions happen, fiscal terms, oil output in barrels, gas output in cubic feet, export capacity, and probabilistic estimates of what's still undiscovered, built with the U.S. Geological Survey.
H.R. 2556 Bill Summary
What H.R. 2556 actually does.
An 18-month report on drilling that crosses U.S. borders
Within 18 months, the Secretaries of Energy, the Interior, and State must jointly report to five congressional committees on oil and gas reservoirs that straddle U.S. maritime boundaries. The report has to map those reservoirs, untangle the treaty and legal questions, weigh the economic and geopolitical stakes, and review offshore activity by Cuba, Mexico, Canada, the Bahamas, and Russia.
A fresh offshore count at least every 5 years
The bill replaces a one-time inventory with a recurring one, required at least once every 5 years. It has to cover the Atlantic, the Pacific off California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, Alaska, the Gulf of America, and U.S. territories.
Critical minerals join the count, not just oil and gas
The required analysis widens beyond hydrocarbons to non-energy minerals, including stone, sand, gravel, and offshore critical minerals. It also has to estimate global market impact, break out direct, indirect, and induced jobs, and assess how off-limits areas affect national security and the revenue coastal states receive.
Interior has to grade its own resource models
Within 1 year, the Interior Department must assess how accurate and cost-effective its resource-estimating models are, working with the National Petroleum Council, the Society of Petroleum Engineers, and the United States Association for Energy Economics. It then either updates the models or publishes a report explaining why an update isn't needed.
A scorecard ranking U.S. leasing against the world
Within 1 year, and at least every 10 years after, Interior must publish a comparative analysis of how every major offshore-producing country runs its leasing program. It covers acres offered, auction frequency, fiscal terms, oil output in barrels, gas output in cubic feet, export capacity, and USGS-built estimates of undiscovered resources.
Who benefits from H.R. 2556?
The offshore oil, gas, and mineral industry
Companies get more frequent, more detailed federal data across the Atlantic, Pacific, Alaska, the Gulf of America, and U.S. territories, plus a direct comparison of how foreign fiscal terms and lease availability stack up against U.S. practice.
Congress
Lawmakers receive a stack of deadline-bound reports, including the 18-month cross-border report to five committees and the recurring international scorecard, giving them a far more detailed basis for future leasing and diplomatic decisions.
Federal energy and resource planners
Agencies get a fixed schedule for better data: inventories at least every 5 years, model checks within 1 year, and an international comparison within 1 year. The bill directs them to lean on advanced geophysical data plus quantum computing, AI, and mapping tools.
Coastal states and revenue-sharing programs
States tied to offshore revenue stand to gain visibility, because the required analysis must spell out how keeping areas off-limits affects the money they share through the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and historic preservation programs.
Who is affected by H.R. 2556?
The Department of the Interior
Interior carries the heaviest load. It leads the international comparison within 1 year, grades its own models within 1 year and every 10 years after, publishes updates within a year of each assessment, and runs the broader offshore inventory at least every 5 years.
The Departments of Energy and State
Both are written into the bill's definition of 'Secretaries' and have to help produce the 18-month cross-border report and the international comparison, pulling them into offshore energy work alongside Interior.
Neighboring and rival offshore producers
The bill singles out Cuba, Mexico, Canada, the Bahamas, and Russia for review of their offshore activity, and calls for a hard look at unresolved U.S.-Canada sea boundaries where reservoirs may be shared.
Environmental and coastal stakeholders
The required reports must weigh the environmental implications of cross-border drilling and the security and economic effects of leasing choices across the Atlantic, Pacific, Alaska, the Gulf of America, and U.S. territories.
HR2556 Legislative Journey
House: Vote: 25-18
Jun 25, 2025
Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 18.
House: Committee Action
May 20, 2025
Subcommittee Hearings Held
House: Committee Action
May 13, 2025
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
House: Committee Action
Apr 1, 2025
Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
About the Sponsor
Wesley Hunt
Republican, Texas's 38th congressional district · 3 years in Congress
Committees: Natural Resources, the Judiciary
View full profile →
Cosponsors (1)
This bill has 1 cosponsor: 1 Republican. Cosponsors represent 1 state: Alaska.
Committee Sponsors
Natural Resources Committee
1 of 45 committee members cosponsored
Foreign Affairs Committee
0 of 50 committee members cosponsored
No committee members have cosponsored this bill
Energy and Commerce Committee
0 of 54 committee members cosponsored
No committee members have cosponsored this bill
78 Republicans across these committees haven't cosponsored yet. Mobilize their constituents
H.R. 2556 Quick Facts
- Committee
- Natural Resources
- Chamber
- House
- Policy
- Energy
- Introduced
- Apr 1, 2025
Committee approved bill for floor consideration in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 25 - 18.
Jun 25, 2025
Official Sources
Official bill page with text, actions, sponsors, and committee referrals for the CORE Act of 2025.
This is the U.S. Code section the bill amends to require the offshore inventory and analysis at least once every 5 years.
The bill requires analysis of how lands withdrawn under section 12 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, codified here, affect leasing and revenue.
The bill assesses how areas in the National Marine Sanctuary System, established under this statute, affect offshore leasing availability.
BOEM is the Interior Department office that assesses discovered and undiscovered offshore oil, gas, and seabed resources central to the bill's reporting requirements.
USGS is named in the bill to produce probabilistic estimates of discovered and undiscovered offshore resources for the foreign comparison report.
NOAA is named in the bill as a partner agency for offshore mapping, data collection, and maritime capabilities supporting the required reports.
The bill requires analysis of how offshore leasing decisions affect revenue sharing tied to the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
H.R. 2556 Common Questions
What does the CORE Act of 2025 actually do?
H.R. 2556 doesn't open any new ocean to drilling. It orders the government to recount the oil, gas, and minerals off U.S. coasts, study cross-border reservoirs, and benchmark U.S. leasing against other countries, all on fixed deadlines.
Does H.R. 2556 open new areas to offshore drilling?
No. The bill is about data and reporting, not leasing. It requires the government to count and analyze offshore resources, but it doesn't authorize any new drilling or open withdrawn areas on its own.
How often would offshore resources be counted under H.R. 2556?
At least once every 5 years. The bill turns a one-time inventory into a recurring one covering the Atlantic, the Pacific off California, Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii, Alaska, the Gulf of America, and U.S. territories.
Which countries' offshore drilling does H.R. 2556 review?
Five. The cross-border report must review offshore activity by Cuba, Mexico, Canada, the Bahamas, and Russia, including their drilling and any treaties affecting reservoirs near U.S. waters.
Does the CORE Act cover critical minerals, not just oil and gas?
Yes. The required analysis goes beyond hydrocarbons to non-energy minerals, including stone, sand, and gravel, plus offshore critical minerals used in electronics and defense.
Does H.R. 2556 rename the Gulf of Mexico?
In its own text, yes. The bill labels the region the 'Gulf of America' in the offshore areas it directs the government to inventory, replacing the 'Gulf of Mexico' reference in the older law it amends.
When would the first CORE Act reports be due?
Fast. The model assessment and the international comparison are both due within 1 year of enactment, and the cross-border drilling report is due within 18 months.
Has H.R. 2556 passed?
Not yet. The House Natural Resources Committee ordered it reported on June 25, 2025 by a 25-18 vote. It still needs a full House vote, Senate passage, and the president's signature to become law.
Based on H.R. 2556 bill text
H.R. 2556 Bill Text
“To enhance national security and energy independence through comprehensive offshore energy resource assessment and mapping, to establish a framework for the regular review and standardization of offshore resource exploration methodologies, and for related purposes.”
Source: U.S. Government Publishing Office
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