BOEM Postpones Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale - Rigzone News

BOEM Postpones Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale | Rigzone

BOEM Postpones Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale

In a statement posted on its website on Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced that it is postponing Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 261, “as a result of the order issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on October 26, 2023, in Louisiana v. Haaland (Case No. 23-30666)”.

“Until the court rules, BOEM cannot be certain of which areas or stipulations may be included in the sale notice,” BOEM noted in the statement, adding that potential bidders in Lease Sale 261 should not submit bids until BOEM provides additional instruction.

“BOEM will hold any bids already received and will hold the sale after it receives further direction from the Court of Appeals,” the organization said in the statement.

Lease Sale 261 was originally scheduled for September 27, then scheduled for November 8, in response to judicial orders, BOEM highlighted in the statement.

In a statement posted on the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) website commenting on Lease Sale 261’s postponement, the group’s Vice President of Upstream Policy, Holly Hopkins, said, “from issuing the weakest five-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”.

“Beyond the sale that was postponed today, there will be no offshore sales until 2025 – the longest gap in offshore sales since 1966,” Hopkins added.

“The U.S. oil and natural gas industry stands ready to support the nation’s energy security through reliable, lower carbon-intensive energy produced here in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, but the Interior Department’s inconsistent policies undermine the certainty needed to invest in future production,” the API representative continued.

Also commenting on the lease sale’s delay, National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) President Erik Milito said in a statement sent to Rigzone, “once again, the Administration is standing against domestic oil and gas production”.

“The Administration is simply choosing to delay this lease sale, which follows in their pattern of opposing new domestic oil and gas lease opportunities,” Milito added.

“There are zero legal or operational constraints preventing Interior from proceeding with the lease sale pursuant to the October 5 Final Notice of Sale,” he continued.

In the statement, Milito also said the delay is especially concerning in light of the geopolitical upheaval and fragility in oil markets due to burgeoning armed conflicts in multiple oil-producing regions.

“A competent national security posture must exemplify strength and promote U.S. oil and gas production, as opposed to overtures to dictators and despots,” Milito added.

“Moreover, there is no reason BOEM should consider withdrawal of acreage or additional restrictions when NOAA, the ‘science-based’ agency within Commerce, has just announced it needs to take additional steps before any decisions like these can be made,” he noted.

“Rather than capitulate to the demands of activist litigants and circumvent the regulatory process, the Administration should resume oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico,” Milito went on to state.

Rigzone asked BOEM and the DOI for comment on the API and NOIA statements. A BOEM representative told Rigzone the organization had nothing additional to add to its Thursday announcement. The DOI has not yet responded to Rigzone's request at the time of writing.

In a statement posted on its site on September 26, BOEM announced that it was postponing Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261.

“As a result of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruling on September 25, 2023, BOEM will not hold Lease Sale 261 on September 27, 2023, as originally planned. The order allows time for a more orderly lease sale process,” BOEM noted in that statement.

“BOEM will include lease blocks that were previously excluded due to concerns regarding potential impacts to the Rice’s whale distribution in the Gulf of Mexico,” it added.

“BOEM will also remove portions of a related stipulation meant to address potential impacts to Rice’s whale from the lease terms for the leases that may be issued as a result of Lease Sale 261,” it continued.

In that statement, BOEM said it planned to hold Lease Sale 261 no later than November 8, “to comply with the Appeals Court ruling”.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com

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