As required by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) will publish the Proposed Notice of Sale (PNOS) for an oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, which is scheduled to be held in September 2023.
Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 would offer approximately 13,620 blocks on 73.4 million acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf in the Western, Central, and Eastern Planning Areas. The IRA mandated that BOEM hold Lease Sale 261 no later than September 30, 2023.
In January, BOEM published a final supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for the lease sale that analyzed potential impacts to important environmental resources and identified robust mitigation measures for consideration 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, while remaining in compliance with the IRA. A full list of terms and conditions are in the PNOS.
The PNOS will publish in the Federal Register in the coming days. In the meantime, the PNOS and a map of the proposed lease sale area are available at http://www.boem.gov/sale-261.
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The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is responsible for America’s offshore energy and mineral resources. The bureau promotes energy independence, environmental protection and economic development through responsible, science-based management of energy and mineral resources on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf.