BOEM Plans to Conduct New Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale in September

In a statement posted on its website this week, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that it will publish the Final Notice of Sale (FNOS) and Record of Decision (ROD) for Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 in the Federal Register on August 25, “as required by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022”.

BOEM noted in the statement that it plans to conduct the lease sale on September 27. Lease Sale 261 will offer approximately 12,395 blocks on approximately 67 million acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf in the Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the statement.

In a separate statement posted on its site back in March, BOEM said it would publish the Proposed Notice of Sale (PNOS) for an oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, “which is scheduled to be held in September 2023”.

“Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 would offer approximately 13,620 blocks on 73.4 million acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf in the Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas,” BOEM noted in that statement, adding that the IRA mandated that BOEM hold Lease Sale 261 no later than September 30, 2023.

In January, BOEM published a final supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the lease sale “that analyzed potential impacts to important environmental resources and identified robust mitigation measures for consideration in leasing the area”, BOEM highlighted in its latest statement.  

“The lease sale terms include stipulations to mitigate potential adverse effects on protected species and to avoid potential conflicts with other maritime uses,” the organization said in the statement.

“BOEM’s proposed economic terms are designed to encourage diligent development while ensuring fair market value to taxpayers, while remaining in compliance with the IRA,” BOEM added.

In a statement posted on the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) website in response to BOEM’s FNOS for Lease Sale 261, API Vice President of Upstream Policy, Holly Hopkins, said, “while the DOI announced a much needed offshore lease sale … the Biden administration continues to throw up roadblock after roadblock to American energy production, prioritizing their campaign promise to stop American oil and natural gas development in federal waters over their duty to meet Americans’ energy needs”.

“With this announcement, the administration is removing approximately six million acres of the Gulf of Mexico and adding new and unjustified restrictions on oil and gas vessels operating in this area, amounting to a lease sale in name only,” Hopkins added.

“These restrictions are not supported by the record and target the men and women of the oil and natural gas industry operating in this region, ignoring all other vessel traffic … [This] announcement leaves American energy developers in a period of extended uncertainty, with no future offshore lease sales scheduled,” Hopkins continued.

In a statement on the FNOS and ROD for Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 261, which was sent to Rigzone, National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Erik Milito said, “the Gulf of Mexico is a long-standing and vital source of reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible energy that is crucial to the wellbeing of our nation”. 

“We are a foundation of hundreds of thousands of jobs while being a source of some of the world’s least carbon-intensive barrels. We can provide much for a nation, but the government needs to be a partner to utilize this national strategic benefit,” Milito went on to state.

Rigzone has asked the DOI, BOEM, and the Department of Energy (DOE) for comment on the API and NOIA statements.

The DOI had no comment. At the time of writing, BOEM and the DOE have not yet responded to Rigzone.

The last lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico – Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 259 – was held on March 29, BOEM’s website shows.

Thirty-two companies participated in the sale, and a total of $263.8 million in high bids were offered on 313 tracts, according to the site, which highlights that BOEM awarded a total of 299 leases on tracts covering approximately 1,599,448 acres.

“The accepted high bids are valued at $250,556,978,” BOEM’s site notes.

“BOEM rejected 14 high bids totaling $13,244,805.00. The rejected tracts will be available in future sales. The highest bid accepted was $15,911,947 submitted by Chevron USA, Inc for Keathley Canyon 96,” it adds.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com