Offshore staff
NEW ORLEANS – The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) says that it is postponing Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261.
As a result of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruling on Sept. 25, 2023, BOEM will not hold Lease Sale 261 on Sept. 27, 2023, as originally planned. BOEM says that “the order allows time for a more orderly lease sale process.”
The Sept. 25 court ruling stated that: “The preliminary injunction that was entered by the Memorandum Order of Sept. 21, 2023, is hereby amended only in that the sale that was set for Sept. 27, 2023, is…ordered to take place by Nov. 8, 2023. No extension will be granted.”
BOEM also says that it will include lease blocks that were previously excluded due to concerns regarding potential impacts to the Rice’s whale distribution in the Gulf of Mexico. BOEM will also remove portions of a related stipulation meant to address potential impacts to Rice’s whale from the lease terms for the leases that may be issued as a result of Lease Sale 261.
BOEM says that it plans to hold Lease Sale 261 no later than Nov. 8, 2023, to comply with the Appeals Court ruling. A revised Final Notice of Sale will be issued in the coming days.
09.26.2023
