U.S. Interior Dept. sets Gulf of Mexico oil, gas lease auction for March
October 24, 2017
HOUSTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department said it will hold its largest offshore auction to date, nearly 77 million acres, to energy companies in March 2018 to conduct oil and gas development.
The proposed lease of offshore Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida blocks continues U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to encourage domestic energy production despite relatively low oil prices, the department said.
The proposed lease sale includes 14,375 blocks that are located from three to 230 miles offshore in the Gulf’s Western, Central and Eastern sectors in water depths ranging from nine to more than 11,115 feet (three to 3,400 meters).
The blocks on offer potentially hold between 210 million and 1.2 billion barrels of oil and between 550 million and 4.42 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
“In today’s low-price energy environment, providing the offshore industry access to the maximum amount of opportunities possible is part of our strategy to spur local and regional economic dynamism and job creation,” said Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in a statement...
Read entire article at Reuters.
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