Mexico Lease

Obama Administration Offers Over 20 Million Acres

Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale Yields $133.8 Million in High Bids on Over 652,520 Acres, Only Latest in a Series of Recent Major Offshore Oil and Gas Sales. As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today held Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 229, which offered over 20 millions acres and attracted $133,767,074 in high bids for 116 tracts covering 652,522 acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore Texas. A total of 13 offshore energy companies submitted 131 bids. The Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale builds on two major Gulf of Mexico lease sales in the past year alone, a 21 million acre sale held last December and a 39 million acre sale held in June. “At President Obama’s direction, his Administration continues to implement a comprehensive, all-of-the-above energy strategy, expanding domestic production, reducing our dependence on foreign oil, and supporting jobs,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. “Developing public energy resources in the Gulf of Mexico continues to generate much needed revenue for local communities while helping to power our nation and fuel our economy.” Lease Sale 229 offered more than 20 million acres for oil and gas development on the OCS and supports the Administration’s goal of continuing to increase domestic oil and

Offshore Lease Generates $115m

A sale of federal oil and natural gas leases for the Western Gulf of Mexico attracted $115,466,321 million in high bids, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced.  To date this year, the department has offered 55 million acres of U.S. public land – onshore and offshore – for oil and gas development, generating more than $875m in revenues. “The responsible development of oil and gas resources on U.S

BOEM: 38 Million-Acre Oil &Gas Lease Sale in the Central GOM

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau announced that BOEM will offer 38 million acres in the Central Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas exploration and development. Thesale will build on two major Gulf of Mexico lease sales in the last year – a 21 million acre sale held last December and a 39 million acre sale held in June. Proposed Lease Sale 227, scheduled to take place in New Orleans on March 20, 2013

Birnbaum Hosts Western GOM Lease Sale 210

The Director of Minerals Management Service, Liz Birnbaum, will host Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 210 in New Orleans on August 19.  She will open the Federal oil and gas lease sale at 9:00 a.m. CDT at the Royal Sonesta Hotel with brief remarks.  Immediately following the bid reading, she will hold a media availability to discuss the results of the sale. The sale, held by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS), encompasses 3

BOEMRE: Proposed Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale

More Than 20 Million Acres to be Offered for Exploration and Development in Western Gulf Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) Director Michael R. Bromwich today announced that BOEMRE will hold the first oil and natural gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. Consistent with steps President Obama announced in May 2011 to expand domestic oil and gas production safely

Public Meeting in New Orleans for OIl & Gas Leasing

BOEM Will Hold Public Hearing in New Orleans on Proposed Oil and Gas Leasing Program.   The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold a public hearing in New Orleans on Jan. 11, 2012, to provide an opportunity for the public to comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and gas lease sales offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama

Mexican Gulf Energy Lease Sales – BOEM Issues Environment Analysis

BOEM's  'Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS)' will aid decision-making on Gulf of Mexico oil & gas lease sales The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has completed the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), with environmental analysis that will support decision-making concerning oil and gas lease sales scheduled in the Gulf of Mexico over the next five years.

Gov: No Offshore Signoffs Without Royalty Share

Louisiana’s governor warned that the state would not support future offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico unless Louisiana gets a share of the federal royalties generated by oil production there. Under a federal law that governs offshore drilling, governors in adjacent states are required to agree that federal lease sales are consistent with their states' coastal management plans. Louisiana governors have traditionally signed off on such lease sales

Government, Oil Majors Discuss Royalties

Several major oil companies are apparently willing to discuss a change in their offshore-drilling leases that, because of a government error, could give the industry a $10 billion windfall, AP reported While some companies, such as Exxon Mobil, reportedly believe the lease contracts should be honored, others, including Shell, reportedly are open to a dialogue on the matter. The error in the 1998-99 lease contracts for deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico could cost the government $10

MMS Names New Gulf Director

The federal Mineral Management Service named Lars Herbst the new regional director of the agency’s Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Region. Herbst will manage the leasing of OCS lands off five Gulf Coast states for oil, gas and other mineral development. The region includes more than 7,000 leases, which involve more than 4,000 platforms. A staff engineer with MMS since 1983, Herbst has previously served as district manager of the New Orleans district