The Biden administration proposed an offshore drilling plan that could have anywhere from zero to 11 lease sales, a move that pushes the politically fraught decision on oil and gas production off for months and is likely to frustrate both fossil fuel supporters and climate change advocates.

The plan from the Interior Department was released just one day after the Supreme Court issued a ruling sharply limiting EPA's power to curb pollution causing climate change — and as gasoline prices remain near record highs. Those fuel prices are a key contributor to inflation, which has emerged as a top concern for voters ahead of the November mid-term elections.

The administration’s plan, if finalized, could allow up to 10 lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico and one lease sale in Alaska's Cook Inlet, both areas where oil and gas production is currently taking place. But it would reserve the right to scrap those sales after it gathers input during a 90-day public comment period for the plan that would replace the five-year offshore drilling plan that expired on Thursday.

That range of options shows the administration is in effect punting a politically fraught decision on new offshore drilling, which he had promised to end on federal lands and waters during the 2020 campaign. While the public comment period runs to the end of September, Interior could still take more time to analyze the comments before making its final plan known, a senior administration official said in an interview.