A group of 36 Republican senators, including Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), chairman of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, voiced support for the Department of Interior’s (DOI) proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Five-Year Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2019-2024. The program,announced by DOI in June, would open more of the OCS to oil and gas drilling. “Pursuing a new five-year program will provide a meaningful review to guarantee that the offshore leasing program contributes to U.S. energy dominance and to ensure some of the most prolific regions of the United States have not been arbitrarily excluded from competitive leasing,” the senators said in a letter to DOI Secretary Ryan Zinke. “We encourage you to carefully review those areas that were not included in the 2017-2022 Five-Year Program to ensure that opportunities are not missed.”