The US will offer more than 21 million Outer Continental Shelf acres in the western Gulf of Mexico in a lease sale in August, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Wednesday.
Lease Sale 233 will include 3,953 blocks covering about 21.1 million acres and located from 9 miles to 250 miles offshore Texas, BOEM said. The blocks are in water depths ranging from 16 feet to more than 10,975 feet (5 meters to 3,346 meters).
BOEM estimates the sale could result in the production of 116 million barrels to 200 million barrels of oil and 538 Bcf to 938 Bcf of natural gas.
The sale, which will be held in New Orleans, is tentatively scheduled for August 28.
This will be the third sale under President Barack Obama's five-year leasing plan and the first under new Interior Secretary Sally Jewell.
"The Gulf of Mexico is a cornerstone of the United States' energy portfolio," Jewell said in a statement. "This proposed lease sale reflects President Obama's continued commitment to safely and responsibly develop our domestic energy resources to help create jobs, foster economic opportunities and reduce America's dependence on foreign oil."
The most recent auction, Central Gulf Sale 227, occurred in March. It generated $1.2 billion in total high bids, one of the largest such sums in the agency's 59-year history of offshore property auctions.
Western Sale 229 generated nearly $134 million when it was held in November. Central sales are typically the larger of the two.
Last year's combined Central Gulf Sale 216/222, held under the previous five-year plan, captured $1.7 billion in total high bids.
