As required by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has announced it will hold an oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico on March 29, 2023.
Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 259 will offer approximately 13,600 blocks on 73.3 million acres in the Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. The IRA mandated that BOEM hold Lease Sale 259 no later than March 31, 2023. The lease sale will be accessible via a link on www.boem.gov. The opening and reading of the bids will begin at 9 a.m. Central Daylight Time. BOEM must receive all bids via the U.S. Postal Service only no later than 10 a.m. Central Daylight Time on March 28, 2023.
In January, BOEM published a final supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the lease sale that analyzed the important environmental resources and identified robust mitigation measures to be considered in leasing the area. The lease sale terms include stipulations to mitigate potential adverse effects on protected species and to avoid potential conflicts with other maritime uses.
BOEM’s proposed economic terms are designed to encourage diligent development while ensuring fair market value to taxpayers and maintaining compliance with the IRA. A full list of terms and conditions are in the Final Notice of Sale (FNOS). As indicated in the FNOS, the lease sale is specific for oil and gas exploration and development, not other uses.
BOEM must receive all bids via mail only through any parcel delivery service (e.g., FedEx, UPS, U.S. Postal Service, DHL), prior to the bid submission deadline of 10:00 a.m. Central Daylight Time on March 28, 2023.
The FNOS, a copy of the Record of Decision affirming the sale, a map of the lease sale area, and instructions for bidding are available at http://www.boem.gov/sale-259.
