WASHINGTON, May 16 (UPI) -- More than two-thirds of the onshore and offshore acreage leased for oil and natural gas exploration remains idle, the U.S. Department of Interior said.
The Department of Interior found of the 36 million acres leased offshore, only 10 million acres are under active development. Onshore, about 56 percent of the leased areas, or roughly 20.8 million acres, is idled.