For Immediate Release: Congressman Wesley Hunt's legislation the CORE Act passed favorably out of House Natural Resources committee.

June 25, 2025

Contact: Matthew Topolski, Communications Director

Email: Matthew.Topolski@mail.house.gov

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman Wesley Hunt's legislation, the Comprehensive Offshore Resource Enhancement (CORE) Act, was passed favorably out of the House Natural Resources Committee.

The CORE Act provides an accurate assessment of undiscovered oil and gas reserves in the United States and the Gulf of America.

During the Biden Administration, BOEM purposefully deflated its estimates of undiscovered oil and gas reserves in the Gulf of America—using those lower figures to justify the fewest lease sales in a five-year plan on record.

The CORE Act confronts this politicized approach head-on by increasing transparency in the Department of the Interior’s geophysical and geological (G&G) resource mapping, streamlining the G&G survey permitting process, and shielding such surveys from baseless lawsuits initiated by climate activists.

Time and time again we witnessed the Biden Administration politicize mundane and traditionally non-partisan processes to harm America's oil and gas industry. The politicization of geophysical and geological surveys is no different," said Hunt.

"The United States and the entire world need more energy, especially from the Gulf of America, as it is the cleanest and most efficient oil and gas found anywhere in the world. By requiring BOEM to have an accurate assessment of undiscovered oil and gas reserves, we can take the discretion of the 5-year lease plan away from partisan bureaucrats and rely on a transparent formula that would reduce energy prices for Americans across the entire country."