The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced the decision to cancel Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 257, which had been scheduled to take place on March 17, 2021. The lease sale would have offered ~80 million acres in federal waters off Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
In rescinding the Record of Decision that was announced in January, BOEM noted its compliance with the subsequent Executive Order on “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad” that included a “pause” on new oil and gas leasing in federal waters pending completion of a comprehensive review and reconsideration of federal permitting and leasing practices. Following the review, BOEM noted that it “may reevaluate” the lease sale and publish an appropriate Record of Decision.
