Natural Gas Leasing News

“President Obama’s short sighted, unilateral withdrawal of Atlantic and Arctic Ocean areas from future oil and gas leasing not only risks the long-term energy security and energy leadership position of the United States, it violates the letter and spirit of the law. Such an expansive withdrawal, particularly when argued as being ’permanent’, is clearly inconsistent with the Outer Continental Shelf Land Act’s steadfast declaration that ‘... “Furthermore, today’s decision puts the…

National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Randall Luthi issued a statement on the 2017-2022 Draft Proposed OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program, stating the U.S. Department of the Interior’s draft offshore oil and gas leasing program adds Atlantic opportunities, but misses others. “The National Ocean Industries Association is pleased that the Department of the Interior has released the 2017-2022 draft proposed offshore oil and natural gas leasing program but expresses concern over its unnecessary and counterproductive limits that may jeopardize America’s long term energy security. Our members are encouraged by the decision to further analyze the mid and south Atlantic areas, which have not been included in a leasing program for over two generations.

NOIA President Randall Luthi issued a statement in response to President Obama’s 2015 State of the Union Address, stating that the President missed a few key points regarding domestic onshore and offshore energy production and supply, and its impact on the U.S. economy. "While the President highlighted America's energy renaissance in his address to Congress tonight, he failed to note that the increase in the supply of American-made energy is occurring on state and private lands, not the federal lands under his control,” Luthi said.

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced that it will hold Gulf of Mexico Eastern Planning Area oil and gas lease sale 225 in New Orleans on March 19, 2014, immediately following the proposed Central Planning Area (CPA) Sale 231. Proposed Sale 225 is the first lease sale proposed for the Eastern Planning Area under the 2012 – 2017 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Natural Gas Leasing Program, and the first sale offering acreage in that area since Sale 224, held in March of 2008. “This proposed sale is another important step to promote responsible domestic energy production through the safe…

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced that it will hold Gulf of Mexico Central Planning Area (CPA) oil and gas lease sale 231 in New Orleans on March 19, 2014. The sale is the second CPA lease sale and the fourth overall sale under the 2012 – 2017 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Natural Gas Leasing Program. The auction will offer 39 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, include all available unleased areas in the CPA.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) completed the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for two proposed oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico's Eastern Planning Area. "This analysis evaluates baseline conditions and potential environmental impacts of oil and natural gas leasing, exploration, development and production in the Eastern Planning Area, and updates information already published," said BOEM Director Tommy P. Beaudreau. Lease Sales 225 and 226, scheduled for 2014 and 2016, are part of the Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 2012-2017 (Five Year Program). The Five Year Program makes all areas with the highest-known resource potential available for oil and gas leasing.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is preparing a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for proposed Central Planning Area (CPA) lease sales beginning with Lease Sale 235 in the Gulf of Mexico off the states of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. Sale 235 is scheduled to be held in 2015. The study will also cover CPA lease sales 241 and 247, to be held in 2016 and 2017 respectively. The supplemental EIS will update the environmental and socioeconomic analyses completed in July 2012 and in April 2013. The supplemental EIS will consider possible new circumstances and information arising from, among other things, the Deepwater Horizon explosion, oil spill and response.

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. The FEIS provides baseline analysis in support of the 10 lease sales scheduled in the Central and Western Gulf of Mexico planning areas over the next five years and evaluates baseline conditions and potential environmental effects of oil and natural gas leasing, exploration, development and production in these two areas. BOEM will continue to evaluate new scientific and environmental information over the course of the coming years and to integrate that information in planning for individual lease sales.

Obama Administration Announces Proposed Central Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale; sale Will Make Nearly 38 million Acres Available as Part of the President’s Blueprint for a Secure Energy Future. The Obama administration has announced that the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold the consolidated Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 216/222 in New Orleans on June 20, 2012. The sale will include all available unleased areas in the Central Planning Area offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. President Obama will discuss today’s announcement during remarks in Nevada later today, in which…

Public Hearings scheduled for Central and Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has completed a draft environmental impact statement regarding multiple oil and gas lease sales tentatively scheduled between 2012 and 2017 in the Western and Central Gulf of Mexico planning areas, offshore the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The proposed Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program: 2012-2017 schedules five annual area-wide lease sales in the Western Gulf and five in the Central Gulf. “The draft environmental impact statement evaluates baseline conditions and potential environmental effects of oil and natural gas leasing, exploration, development and production in the Western and Central Gulf,” said BOEM Director Tommy P.

The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced that its Western Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 218, held today in New Orleans, attracted $337,688,341 in high bids and included 20 companies submitting 241 bids on 191 tracts comprising over a million acres offshore Texas. The sum of all bids received totaled $712,725,998. This announcement is consistent with steps President Obama announced in May 2011 to expand domestic oil and gas production safely and responsibly. “Today’s lease sale, the first since the tragic events of Deepwater Horizon, continues the Obama administration’s commitment to a balanced and comprehensive energy plan,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, who attended the sale and provided opening remarks.

NEW ORLEANS – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today announced it is seeking information and nominations from all interested parties regarding proposed oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico Western and Central Planning Areas for the 2012-2017 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Natural Gas Leasing Program. BOEMRE will analyze information received in response to this Call for Information and Nominations (Call), which will primarily identify and evaluate areas with potential for oil and gas development…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) today released a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for proposed oil and gas Lease Sale 216/222 in the Central Planning Area in the Gulf of Mexico. The draft SEIS updates the findings in several previously published environmental reviews covering the Gulf of Mexico and incorporates the latest available information following the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. “The analyses contained in this draft SEIS will allow us to make objective, science-based decisions regarding offshore energy exploration, development and production,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) released a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for proposed oil and gas Lease Sale 218 in the Western Planning Area in the Gulf of Mexico. The SEIS updates the findings in several previously published environmental reviews covering the Gulf of Mexico. It also incorporates the latest available information pertaining to the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area following the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. “The analysis contained in this Final SEIS incorporates new research and reflects broad public input on the environmental effects of oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico,” said BOEMRE Director Michael R. Bromwich.

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 and responsibly, the proposed Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 218 is scheduled to be held in New Orleans on December 14, 2011. The sale will include all available unleased areas in the Western Gulf Planning Area offshore Texas. “This sale is an important step toward a secure energy future that includes safe…

Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau announced that BOEM will hold the first oil and natural gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. This announcement is consistent with steps President Obama announced in May, 2011 to expand domestic oil and gas production safely and responsibly. This sale follows BOEM’s completion of a supplemental environmental impact statement analyzing the effects of the Deepwater Horizon spill on the Western Gulf of Mexico. Lease Sale 218 will be held in the Louisiana Superdome in downtown New Orleans on Dec. 14, 2011. The sale will include all available unleased areas in the Western Gulf Planning Area offshore Texas.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is seeking information from interested parties regarding proposed oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico Eastern Planning Areas. These sales are included in the Proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017, announced earlier this month. BOEM has published a Call for Information and Nominations/Notice of Intent (Call/NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for two Eastern Gulf sales currently scheduled for 2014 and 2016. BOEM will collect and analyze information to identify and evaluate areas with potential for oil and gas development, as well as to determine possible environmental effects and potential conflicts in the Call area.

President George W. Bush on recently said he was open to pending proposals in Congress to expand oil and natural gas leasing in federal waters provided it was at least 100 miles offshore. About 3 million acres in the eastern Gulf of Mexico would be opened to oil and natural gas drilling under a bipartisan Senate bill but the legislation could face problems from Florida and other coastal lawmakers as it moves to the floor. There are also efforts in the U.S. House to expand the areas in which industry can drill, although it remains unclear whether high energy costs will soften longstanding resistance to the idea from voters. Currently, only the central and western Gulf of Mexico and limited parts offshore Alaska are open to industry.

U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar issued the following statement regarding the U.S. “I am pleased with the Court’s decision. Consistent with the Department’s request, the Court clarified that its prior ruling only applies to the Chukchi, Beaufort and Bering Seas. On April 17, 2009 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated the entire 2007-2012 Outer Continental Shelf oil and natural gas leasing program, ruling that Bush Administration officials did not conduct sufficient scientific and environmental analysis before scheduling oil and gas lease sales on the Outer Continental Shelf off Alaska. The ruling came two years after lease sales had begun under the 2007-2012 OCS oil and natural gas leasing program.