The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has received nearly US$192m in high bids for 308 tracts covering 1.7 million acres (688,000 hectares) in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico (United States) as part of the Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 257. A total of 33 companies, including Shell, BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil, participated in the lease sale, submitting US$198,511,834 in total bids. Lease Sale 257 offered approximately 15,148 unleased blocks located from 3 to 231 miles (5 to 372 km) offshore, in the Gulf’s Western, Central and Eastern Planning Areas in water depths ranging from nine to more than 11,115 feet (three to 3,400 meters).
In January 2021, the United States announced a moratorium on new drilling from federal land pending a review. However, in June 2021, the government was ordered by a federal judge in Louisiana to resume auctions, as the administration was required by law to offer acreage to the oil and gas industry. The country will open more than 80 million acres (over 320,000 km2) in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas exploration and projects up to 1.1 Gbl of oil and 4.4 tcf (125 bcm) of gas from the auctions.
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