Consumer Watchdog and FracTracker Alliance counted 433 California new-drilling permits through September, bringing renewed attention to the gap between drilling approvals and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s climate goals.
The groups’ analysis of state records compared the 2026 total with 115 permits across all of 2023-25, which they described as a 277% increase. Because the first figure covers nine months and the second covers three full years, the comparison does not show like-for-like annual growth.
A same-quarter comparison showed 80 new-drilling permits in the third quarter of 2026, up from two a year earlier. Of those 80 permits, 61 were for oil and gas production and 19 for enhanced oil recovery and support. Other permit categories moved lower: rework and redrill permits fell to 261 from 345, while plugging and abandonment permits declined to 710 from 749.
Senate Bill 237, which took effect Jan. 1, 2026, lets the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) rely on Kern County’s environmental review for covered operations there. The law caps new-drilling permits issued in reliance on that review at 2,000 a year until Jan. 1, 2036, unless the California Energy Commission (CEC) makes a specified finding. CalGEM has cited concerns about fuel-price volatility and the stability of in-state production as reasons for the law.
In 2021, Newsom directed CalGEM to begin rulemaking aimed at ending new fracking permits by January 2024 and asked the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to study a possible phaseout of oil extraction by 2045. Newsom said California must “move beyond oil.” Consumer Advocate Liza Tucker said the permit count was “exactly where California wasn’t supposed to go.”
Permits do not establish that wells have been drilled or started producing. A May 2026 draft CEC assessment said CalGEM had issued 192 permits under SB 237 from 277 applications received as of March 31, and one permitted well had been drilled. The assessment said production may follow permitting and drilling after a significant delay. It also said communities near refineries and oil and gas infrastructure face disproportionate pollution effects, while declining production can affect industry jobs and local tax bases. The draft is not adopted CEC policy.
Separately, a Kern County Superior Court tentative decision dated Oct. 8 found CalGEM’s blanket policy of denying well-stimulation permits and its 2024 rule invalid. It sent denied and pending applications for individual review but did not require the agency to issue permits.
