U.S. Interior Delays Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Nov. 2 announced that it is postponing Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 261, which was originally planned for Sept. 27 and then rescheduled for Nov. 8 in response to court orders.

Last month, the bureau announced that Lease Sale 261 will be held on Nov. 8 pursuant a ruling issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Sept. 25. The court directed the bureau to include lease blocks that were previously excluded due to potential impacts to the Rice’s whale population from oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico. In response to direction from the court, the agency said that the sale will offer about 13,618 blocks on 72.7 million acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf in the Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas in the Gulf of Mexico.

Following the announcement, the American Petroleum Institute issued a statement expressing concern that inconsistent policies impair the certainty needed for investment in future production. “From issuing the weakest 5-year program for offshore leasing in U.S. history to repeatedly delaying congressionally-mandated lease sales, the Department of the Interior continues to demonstrate its willingness to ignore the clear and growing need to expand American energy leadership and reduce reliance on foreign energy sources,” according to the statement.

The administration’s final five-year program for federal offshore leasing, issued in September, includes three offshore lease sales. Lease Sale 261, mandated by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, is the only offshore sale until 2025.