The US Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will offer 41.2 million acres for oil and gas exploration and development in the Gulf of Mexico under lease sale 235, which will be held on 18 March 2015 in New Orleans, the agencies announced.
The sale will be the seventh offshore auction under the Obama Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (five-year Program).
“As a critical component of the nation’s energy portfolio, the Gulf holds vital energy resources that can continue to generate jobs and spur economic opportunities for Gulf producing states, as well as further reduce the Nation’s dependence on foreign oil,” said BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper.
Sale 235 encompasses 7788 unleased blocks, covering about 41.2 million acres, located from three to 230nm offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, in water depths ranging from nine to more than 11,115ft (3-3400m). BOEM estimates the proposed sale could result in 1 billion bo and 4 Tcf of natural gas production. Back in October, BOEM announced that portions up for grabs included blocks located, or partially located, within the three statute mile US-Mexico Boundary Area.
All terms and conditions for Lease Sale 235 can be viewed at http://www.boem.gov/Sale-235/.
It's been a busy few weeks for the Department of the Interior and BOEM, who have been announcing several plans for future lease sales.
In late January, the agency released the draft supplemental environmental impact statement (EIS) for the US Gulf of Mexico and submitted a proposal for its next five-year program covering 2017-2022. Areas included for lease sales under that plan included the Gulf of Mexico, areas of the Chukchi Sea, Beaufort Sea, and Cook Inlet areas offshore Alaska, and the Mid- and South Atlantic OCS.
Earlier this week President Barack Obama requested US$170.9 million in funding for BOEM under his fiscal year 2016 budget, and US$204.7 million for BOEM's sister agency, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).
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