Interior to offer 76.9 million acres in gulf lease sale

Oct. 24, 2017
US Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke announced what would be the largest federal offshore oil and gas lease sale in history—76.9 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida—in an area the size of New Mexico in March 2018.

US Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke announced what would be the largest federal offshore oil and gas lease sale in history—76.9 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida—in an area the size of New Mexico in March 2018.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s offering of all unleased federal tracts on the gulf’s Outer Continental Shelf would surpass 2016’s region-wide sale by about 1 million acres, Zinke noted. Proposed Sale No. 250 would be the second held under the 2017-22 OCS management program. Sale No. 249 in August received $121 million in high bids.

“In today’s low-price energy environment, providing the offshore industry access to the maximum amount of opportunities possible is part of our strategy to spur local and regional economic dynamism and job creation and a pillar of President [Donald J.] Trump’s plan to make the US energy dominant,” Zinke said.

Several congressional Republicans welcomed the announcement. “In order to strengthen America’s energy dominance, we must anticipate and plan for our needs for decades to come," said Lisa Murkowski (Alas.), who chairs the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. “The administration’s decision to move forward with the largest offshore lease sale in our nation’s history is a key part of that effort.”

BOEM said an estimated 210 million-1.42 billion bbl of crude oil and 0.55-4.42 tcf of natural gas could be developed as a result of the proposed region-wide sale. Most of the activity—as much as 83% of future production—would be in the gulf’s central planning area, it said.

Proposed Lease Sale 250 includes 14,375 unleased blocks 3-230 miles offshore in the gulf’s western, central, and eastern planning areas in 9-11,115 ft of water. Excluded from the sale would be blocks subject to a moratorium under the 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act; blocks that are adjacent to or beyond the US Exclusive Economic Zone in the area known as the northern portion of the Eastern Gap; and whole blocks and partial blocks within the current boundary of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.

The lease sale terms include stipulations to protect biologically sensitive resources, mitigate potential adverse effects on protected species, and avoid potential conflicts associated with oil and gas development in the region. Terms and conditions for Lease Sale 250 in the Proposed Notice of Sale are not final. Different terms and conditions may be employed in the sale’s final notice, which will be published at least 30 days before it is held, BOEM said.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].