The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management may make changes on how it conducts its public auctions for future Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sales, the agency’s spokesman says.
The Advertiser reports John Filostrat, a BOEM spokesman in New Orleans, says agency officials are reviewing how a March 23 oil and gas lease sale at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome was conducted and whether changes in security are needed.
The Louisiana Bucket Brigade and other activists—estimates suggested there were 100 to 300 people involved that day—protested that public auction as part of a movement ostensibly made to stop lease sales in the Gulf.
The March sale involved BOEM’s offer of 45 million acres—8,349 blocks—for a lease in the Central and Eastern planning areas of the outer continental shelf of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Thirty offshore energy companies submitted 148 bids; the sum of all bids totaled more than $179 million and will be reviewed through June.
The sale was marked by the public protests, which began with activists marching or riding to the Superdome, then chanting during the reading of bids. Filostrat says some protesters tried to climb onto the stage but Superdome security did a good job of maintaining order.
“We respect their right to peacefully protest,” Filostrat says, adding that BOEM must make certain others at the meeting “feel safe.”
He says BOEM officials will review what happened at the Superdome on March 23 and “plan accordingly.”
Louisiana Bucket Brigade founder Anne Rolfes says protesters would attend the August sale no matter where it is held. She says the organization’s members were “exuberant” that day but remain committed to nonviolence.
“It is a violent industry. It kills wildlife and makes people sick,” she says, adding that when the government and industry face populations that are “in revolt” against them, they should “change their approach.”
