US rakes in $263.8m from Gulf of Mexico drilling rights auction
Gulf of Mexico drilling sites
News wire -- A U.S. government earned $263.8 million from auction of oil and gas drilling invasion of Ukraine.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, BOEM, offered 73.4 million acres in the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, OCS, in the Gulf. Bids were read at a livestreamed event.
The auction fulfills a provision in President Joe Biden's 2022 climate change law, the Inflation Reduction Act, IRA, that protects federal oil and gas leasing and requires that a Gulf sale be held by March 31.
The auction was the first in the oil-rich region since late 2021. The high bid total was the largest since a 2017 sale in the Central Gulf area garnered $274.8 million.
Chevron was among the highest spenders, with multiple bids for deepwater tracts in the millions of dollars. The company, which wasn't immediately available for comment, made a bid of $15.9 million for a tract in the Keathley Canyon area.
Exxon, meanwhile, snapped up more than 60 shallow water blocks near the Texas coastline. Analysts have said the company may be preparing for a carbon capture and storage project.
The company said only that it was "evaluating the seismic and subsurface geology for future commercial potential."
Other tract winners included Shell Plc, BP Plc, Hess Corp and Equinor ASA.
Prior to the passage of the IRA last year, the administration had canceled three planned offshore lease sales in the Gulf and Alaska, citing a lack of industry interest and conflicting litigation over the president's leasing policy.