H.R. 2053 — Stop Giving Big Oil Free Money Act

This section defines "covered leases" as oil or natural gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico that (1) exist on the date of enactment, (2) were issued under the Outer Continental Shelf Deep Water Royalty Relief Act (i.e., P.L. 104-58, providing royalty suspensions to encourage deepwater development without initial price thresholds), and (3) lack royalty relief limitations based on market price thresholds equal to or less than those in current law (43 U.S.C. 1337(a)(3)(C)(v)-(vii)). (Thus, covered leases allow royalty nonpayment even at high oil and gas prices, unlike post-2006 leases.) The section prohibits the Secretary of the Interior from issuing any new Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act oil or natural gas leases to (1) lessees (including affiliates or controllers) holding covered leases, (2) prior holders who transferred covered leases after enactment, or (3) persons with any interest or benefit from covered leases, unless such persons renegotiate all their covered leases to include the specified price thresholds for royalty payments. For covered leases with multiple lessees, the Secretary may enter separate renegotiation agreements per ownership share, after which the modified share is no longer treated as covered. The section further bars lessees or other interested parties from acquiring by transfer (including swaps or spinoffs) any covered lease, its economic benefits, or other Gulf of Mexico oil or natural gas leases unless they renegotiate their covered leases or enter a Secretary-approved agreement modifying all such leases to include price thresholds equal to or less than those in current law.

This section requires the Secretary of the Interior to amend, upon request by any lessee, oil and gas leases issued under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act for tracts in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico from January 1, 1996, through November 28, 2000, to incorporate price thresholds applicable to royalty suspension provisions (i.e., prices above which lessees must resume royalty payments) that are equal to or less than those specified in 43 U.S.C. 1337(a)(3)(C)(v)-(vii), effective October 1, 2026.