US Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Acting Director Walter Cruickshank announced that BOEM proposes to offer 78 million acres for a region-wide lease sale scheduled for March 2019. The sale would include all available unleased areas in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
Lease Sale 252 will be the fourth offshore sale under the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program. Under this program, ten region-wide lease sales are scheduled for the Gulf of Mexico. Two Gulf lease sales will be held each year and include all available blocks in the Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Areas.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
In January, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced a draft proposed program for a new National OCS Program for years 2019-2024. After considering all public comments received in response, BOEM will develop and publish a proposed program for public comment later this year, followed by the proposed final program expected in 2019.
Lease Sale 252 will include about 14,696 unleased blocks, located from three to 231 miles offshore, in the Gulf’s Western, Central and Eastern planning areas in water depths varying from nine to more than 11,115 feet.
However, blocks subject to the congressional moratorium established by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006; blocks adjacent to or beyond the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone in the area known as the northern portion of the Eastern Gap; and whole blocks and partial blocks within the current boundaries of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, are excluded from the lease sale.
Leases from this sale would include clauses to protect biologically sensitive resources, mitigate potential adverse effects on protected species, and avoid potential conflicts associated with oil and gas development in the region.
