US to Offer “All Available” GoM Acreage
The US government will offer “all available” unleased areas in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico at an upcoming lease sale, the Department of Interior (DOI) announced July 18.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will offer 77.8mn acres in a region-wide lease sale scheduled for August 21, the DOI said in a statement.
Lease Sale 253 will be the fifth offshore sale under the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program. It will include approximately 14,585 unleased blocks, located from three to 231 miles offshore, in GoM’s western, central and eastern planning areas, in water depths ranging from 3,000-3,400m.
“The Trump administration is laser focused on developing our domestic offshore oil and gas resources in an environmentally conscious manner, and the Gulf of Mexico is front and centre for that development,” said Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt. “The expansion of America’s energy sector has been a major economic driver for the American people in keeping energy prices low. Our work in the Gulf of Mexico to ensure America leads the world in energy production is paramount.”
The Gulf of Mexico OCS, covering about 160mn acres, is estimated to contain about 48bn barrels of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and 141tn ft3 of undiscovered technically recoverable gas.
Fiscal terms on the assets on sale include a 12.5% royalty rate for leases in less than 200m of water and 18.75% for all others.