The U.S. Interior Department today announced its decision to hold no more than three Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas lease sales through 2029, stating that the program is consistent with statutory requirements mandating offshore oil and gas lease sales as a precondition to offshore wind energy leasing. The announcement also noted that the 2024-2029 offshore oil and gas leasing program contains “the fewest oil and gas lease sales in history.”
On Dec. 20, DOI’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held Gulf of Mexico Oil & Gas Lease Sale 261, which garnered over $382 million in high bids for 311 tracts spanning 1.7 million acres.
