BOEM Reviews Two Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale Proposals
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) for proposed oil and gas Lease Sales 233 and 231, the third and fourth sales scheduled in the current 2012-2017 five-year program.
As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy, domestic oil and gas production has grown each year the President has been in office, with domestic oil production currently higher than any time in two decades and natural gas production at its highest level ever. Renewable electricity generation from wind, solar, and geothermal sources has doubled and foreign oil imports now account for less than 40% of the oil consumed in America – the lowest level since 1988.
Western Planning Area Lease Sale 233 is tentatively scheduled to be held in 2013, and Central Planning Area Lease Sale 231 is tentatively scheduled to be held in 2014. A Federal Register notice announcing the availability of the Final SEIS will be published on April 12, 2013.
The SEIS updates several previously published environmental reviews covering the Gulf of Mexico and incorporates the latest available information following the Deepwater Horizon explosion, oil spill and cleanup. The bureau will continue to conduct and assess additional scientific research and studies, and use this information to inform future offshore leasing and energy development decisions.