Gulf Of Mexico Lease Sale News

The Biden administration on Thursday said it would hold an auction of oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico on Nov. 8 following a court order to expand the sale.In a statement, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the sale would offer about 72.7 million acres on the Outer Continental Shelf, including 6 million acres it had withdrawn from the auction in an effort to protect the endangered Rice's whale habitat.Last month, a U.S. appeals court gave the administration until Nov. 8 to hold the sale, which was originally scheduled for Sept. 27.

An oil and gas industry trade group, the state of Louisiana and Chevron on Thursday sued the Biden administration over its decision to withdraw acreage from an upcoming oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico to protect an endangered whale.The suit is the latest dispute between the oil and gas industry and the administration of President Joe Biden over leasing federal lands and waters for energy development.Biden paused federal drilling auctions shortly after taking office in 2021 as part of his climate change agenda…

U.S. President Joe Biden vowed during his 2020 election campaign to end federal oil and gas drilling as a major step in his strategy to fight climate change.The U.S. Senate Democrats' $430 billion spending bill agreed this week could kill that pledge. If it passes, it would effectively guarantee continued drilling rights auctions on federal lands and waters for at least another decade.Still, with Congress set to begin a summer recess by the end of next week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer faces a tricky road to quick passage for the bill…

The U.S. Interior Department will release a long-awaited report reviewing the environmental costs and economic benefits of the nation's federal oil and gas leasing program as early as Friday, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.President Joe Biden's administration launched the review earlier this year in what had been widely seen as a first step in delivering on a campaign promise to end new federal fossil fuel drilling to fight climate change.The report, however…

The Biden administration's auction of oil drilling rights in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico generated more than $190 million in high bids, bringing in more money for taxpayers than any government offshore lease sale since early 2019.The Department of Interior auction came days after the U.S. joined a global agreement that for the first time asked governments to accelerate emissions cuts by phasing down coal and fossil fuel subsidies.It was the first auction under President Joe Biden, whose administration paused drilling sales under a promise to end development on federal properties.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will hold an oil and gas lease sale for the Gulf of Mexico on November 17, complying with a U.S. District Court order.To remind, the Biden administration had paused all oil and gas leasing activities on federal lands and waters in January, citing climate crisis. A federal judge in Louisiana in June then ordered the resumption of oil and gas leasing on public lands and waters.Announcing the upcoming Gulf of Mexico lease sale on Thursday…

For the past few years, depressed commodity prices, stricter regulatory requirements and competition from onshore development at home and from other countries offering attractive offshore lease and royalty terms have had severe impacts on new exploration in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Thankfully, the tide appears to finally be turning.In August, Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 251 drew increased competition for offerings and $178 million in high bids, $53 million more than previous sale held in March.

Today's U.S. auction of Gulf of Mexico exploration leases drew tepid response from oil companies, but marked notable progress for an industry still in a state of recovery.“While not a barn burner, Lease Sale 251 tops the previous Gulf sale in terms of increased participation, increased competition for offerings, and bid amounts,” said Randall Luthi, president of the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA). “In addition, bidding activity demonstrates both continued interest in deepwater tracts and renewed interest in shallow water tracts.”Luthi continued…

A federal auction of exploration leases in the Gulf of Mexico next week will test energy companies' appetite for acreage after the Trump administration left royalty rates for deepwater parcels unchanged, bucking an industry call to lower them.The U.S. Gulf of Mexico has faced waning interest in recent years as competition stepped up from other basins globally, as well as from onshore shale basins and Mexico's waters in the Gulf.Oil companies had lobbied for lower royalty payments for deepwater acreage because of the projects' high cost and long lead time before production can begin.

“The historic size of tomorrow’s Region-wide Gulf of Mexico lease sale, combined with improving market conditions and a shallow water incentive, may draw more interest from industry than we have seen in recent years. “Operators are global in nature and will bid where they believe they will get the most ‘bang for their buck’. The results of recent sales in the Mexican side of the Gulf of Mexico demonstrate that the United States cannot tread water by offering the same acreage time and time again without additional incentives. The good news is that as commodity prices and market conditions have slowly improved, the Trump administration has worked to safely reduce regulatory burden and also incentivize industry investment by offering a 12.5% royalty rate for shallow water leases.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Ross Hopper announced the bureau will offer more than 48 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama for oil and gas exploration and development, in a lease sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Central Planning Area (CPA). “As one of the most productive basins in the world, the Gulf of Mexico remains an important component of our domestic energy strategy to create jobs, foster economic opportunities, and reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil,” Hopper said. BOEM will livestream Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 247 on March 22, 2017. Livestreaming the sale enables BOEM to deliver pertinent bid information immediately to a much broader national and international audience.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said it is set to conduct a Gulf of Mexico Western Planning Area Lease Sale 246 on Wednesday, August 19 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. Doors open at 7:30 and bid reading begins at 9 a.m. CDT. As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Lease Sale 246 is the eighth offshore sale under the Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program). The first seven sales in the Five Year Program offered more than 60 million acres for development and garnered more than $2.9 billion in bid revenues.

National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) president Randall Luthi today voiced his support for the U.S. Department of Interior’s (DOI) Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale scheduled for next week. “The call to delay next week’s Department of the Interior Western Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas lease sale shows how out of touch with energy reality and the American people some extremist environmental groups are,” Luthi said in a statement issued today. “Due to low oil prices and increasing regulatory burden, this is not expected to be a momentous sale, but even so, the oil and gas industry will add hundreds of thousands of dollars to the U.S. Treasury.

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Acting Director Walter Cruickshank today announced that the bureau will offer 40 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama for oil and gas exploration and development in a sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. Proposed Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 235, scheduled to take place in New Orleans, Louisiana, in March of 2015, will be the seventh offshore sale under the Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program).

U.S. Government agency BOEM informs that Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 238 attracted US$109,951,644 million in high bids for 81 tracts covering 433,823 acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf offshore Texas. A total of 14 offshore energy companies submitted 93 bids. “This sale underscores the President’s commitment to create jobs and home-grown energy through the safe and responsible exploration and development of offshore energy resources,” said Interior Deputy Secretary Mike Connor. The lease sale, which offered 21.6 million acres, builds on five previous sales held under the Obama Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program).

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, today’s Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 238 attracted $109,951,644 million in high bids for 81 tracts covering 433,823 acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf offshore Texas. A total of 14 offshore energy companies submitted 93 bids. “This sale underscores the President’s commitment to create jobs and home-grown energy through the safe and responsible exploration and development of offshore energy resources,” said Interior Deputy Secretary Mike Connor. Today’s lease sale, which offered 21.6 million acres…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Gulf of Mexico Regional Director John Rodi will open the Gulf of Mexico Western Planning Area Lease Sale 238 at 9 a.m. CDT on Wednesday, August 20, 2014 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans. The sale, which offers more than 21 million acres for oil and gas exploration and development offshore Texas, is open to the public and news media representatives are invited to attend. Following the bid reading, a news media teleconference to announce the results of the sale will be conducted by BOEM Gulf of Mexico Deputy Regional Director Michael Celata. Media wishing to participate in the teleconference only should call 1-888-469-1174 by 10 a.m. CDT and provide the passcode GULF SALE.

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau today announced that the bureau will offer more than 21 million acres offshore Texas for oil and gas exploration and development in a lease sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. Proposed Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 238…

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.

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 233, which offered 20.7 million acres and attracted $102,351,712 in high bids for 53 tracts covering 301,006 acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) offshore Texas. A total of 12 offshore energy companies submitted 61 bids. The Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale builds on the first two auctions in the current Five Year Program – a 39-million-acre Central Gulf offering held in March, which netted almost $1.2 billion high bids and a 20-million-acre Western Gulf offering held last November that netted nearly $134 million.

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau announced that BOEM will hold a lease sale tomorrow that will make nearly 21 million acres offshore Texas available for oil and natural gas exploration and development. BOEM estimates that Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 233 could lead to the production of up to 200 million barrels of oil and 938 billion cubic feet of natural gas. During tomorrow’s lease sale, BOEM will open 61 bids submitted by 12 companies on 53 offshore blocks. “Safe and responsible development of the Gulf of Mexico’s vital energy resources will continue to help power our nation and drive our economy…

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced final details for the Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 233. The sale will take place on August 28 and will cover roughly 20.7 million acres million acres offshore Texas for oil and gas exploration and development. The bureau estimates the proposed lease sale could result in the production of 116 to 200 million barrels of oil and 538 to 938 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The sale offers 3,864 blocks, located from nine to 250 miles offshore, in water depths ranging from 16 to more than 10,975 feet (five to 3,346 meters). The sale, which will be held at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, includes all available unleased or non-protected areas in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area.