The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has initiated Gulf of Mexico Oil and Sale 259 as required by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. It offered around 13,600 blocks on 73.3 million acres (27.7 million hectares) in the Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas on the US Outer Continental Shelf. Depending on the depth of the water, the leases have terms of five or ten years and bear royalty rates of up to 18.75%, which is the highest allowed under the IRA. For offshore leases, the IRA increased the minimum royalty rate to 16.67%.
Overall, 32 companies have participated in the lease sale, submitting US$310m in total bids, and generated US$264m in high bids. The largest buyers were Chevron (US$108m in high bids) and BP (US$47m).
Do you want to become an expert on renewable energies auctions?
Discover our very detailed and regularly updated RES auctions database with worldwide coverage and a technical focus backed by academic research.
With our renewable energies auctions service you will be able to monitor auctions at a global level. Its (expanding) scope notably includes all major G20 countries and offers an especially fine tracking on Europe and South America.