The lease sale, which offered 21.6 million acres, builds on five previous sales held under the Obama Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program). These five lease sales have offered more than 60 million acres for development, and garnered $2.3 billion in bid revenues.

This latest sale offered all unleased areas (excluding those located in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary) in the Western Gulf of Mexico planning area, including 4,026 tracts from nine to more than 250 miles off the coast, in depths ranging from 16 to more than 10,975 feet (five to 3,346 meters). The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) estimates the lease sale could result in the production of 116 to 200 million barrels of oil and 538 to 938 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

167 of the blocks available for lease were located or partially located within three statute miles of the maritime and continental shelf boundary with Mexico. Leases issued on these blocks are subject to the terms of the US-Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbon Reservoirs Agreement and 24 of those blocks received bids.

Each bid will go through a strict evaluation process within BOEM to ensure the public receives fair market value before a lease is awarded.