US Sets Date for Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale After Court Order
The Biden administration on Thursday said it would hold an auction of oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico on Nov. 8 following a court order to expand the sale.
In a statement, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said the sale would offer about 72.7 million acres on the Outer Continental Shelf, including 6 million acres it had withdrawn from the auction in an effort to protect the endangered Rice's whale habitat.
Last month, a U.S. appeals court gave the administration until Nov. 8 to hold the sale, which was originally scheduled for Sept. 27. That followed a federal judge's ruling ordering an expansion of the sale in a lawsuit brought by oil and gas companies.
The November sale is likely to be the last federal offshore oil and gas auction until 2025, according to a five year schedule the government unveiled last week that includes a historically low number of planned lease sales.
(Reuters - Reporting by Nichola Groom/Editing by Chris Reese)