Louisiana seeks to stop Lease Sale 200

Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco requested a preliminary injunction against the US Minerals Management Service to stop the Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 200 scheduled for Aug. 16 in New Orleans.

July 28, 2006

2 min read

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, July 28 -- Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco requested a preliminary injunction against the US Minerals Management Service to stop the Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 200 scheduled for Aug. 16 in New Orleans.

"The complaint states the ways in which the MMS has violated the National Environmental Protection Act, the Coastal Zone Management Act, and the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in moving forward," Blanco said in a July 20 news release.

The state's complaint, filed with the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, asks the court to prevent the opening of bids and awarding of leases for the upcoming sale.

Previously Blanco threatened to block the sale unless Louisiana receives what she calls its "fair share of revenues from offshore oil and gas drilling (OGJ, Apr. 17, 2006, p. 26)." Louisiana is pushing to receive 50% of the federal revenues from production off its coast.

Blanco had recommended postponing the sale, citing persistent land loss in coastal Louisiana and devastating effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Blanco said production resulting from the lease sale would impact the state's coast.

"The state of Louisiana has historically been the federal government's No. 1 partner in providing our nation its domestic offshore energy supply," Blanco said, calling for a federal commitment to ensure Louisiana to protect its wetlands and economic assets.

"This is about ensuring the viability of a sustained domestic energy supply," she said. "It is ironic that MMS would disregard such a notion."

Sale 200 offers 3,865 blocks covering 20.87 million acres 9-210 miles off Texas and Louisiana in 8-3,000 m of water. MMS estimates the sale could result in the production of 136-262 million bbl of oil and 0.81-1.44 tcf of gas (OGJ, Apr. 17, 2006, Newsletter).

MMS said Sale 200 is expected to be the last western gulf sale to contain certain blocks in the Garden Banks, Keathley Canyon, and Sigsbee Escarpment map areas. The blocks in question will transfer from the western gulf planning area to the central gulf planning area if the Draft Proposed Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2007-12, as currently formulated, is implemented in July 2007.

After this sale, all unleased blocks will be transferred and will not be available for lease until after the next central gulf sale, tentatively planned for March 2008.