The Interior Department says it will propose the largest oil and gas lease sale ever held in the United States—nearly 77 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
The sale, scheduled for next March, includes all available unleased areas on the Gulf’s Outer Continental Shelf. The proposal surpasses a lease sale conducted last year by about a million acres.
The moves, say Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, are part of the administration’s strategy to achieve what President Donald Trump calls “energy dominance” in the global market.
A Gulf of Mexico lease sale in August drew $121 million in high bids from energy companies seeking 90 offshore tracts.
U.S. Sen. John Kennedy lauded today’s announcement, saying the lease sale is an “economic bonanza” for Louisiana and is the type of activity the oil and gas sector needs.
“That translates into countless jobs, especially for Acadiana,” Kennedy says in a statement. “Our oil and gas families want to work. They just need the jobs.”
