On July 16, Abigail Ross Hopper, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), said that about 21.9 million acres offshore Texas will be offered in a lease sale that includes all available, unleased sections in the Western Gulf of Mexico planning area.

Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 246 will be held in New Orleans on Aug. 19. It will be the eighth offshore sale under the Obama administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012 to 2017, known as the Five-year Program.

This sale builds on the program’s first seven sales, which offered more than 60 million acres and brought in almost $2.9 billion.

Sale 246 will include about 4,083 blocks ranging from nine to 250 nautical miles offshore, in 16 ft to more than 10,975 ft of water (5m to 3,340m).

Extensive environmental analysis, public comment and consideration of available scientific information preceded the decision to make the sale. There are stipulations concerning resources, protected species and potential conflicts.

“As one of the most productive basins in the world, the Gulf of Mexico is critical to the nation’s domestic energy portfolio,” Hopper said. “This lease sale underscores our commitment to make millions of acres of federal waters available for safe and responsible exploration and development. “

All terms and conditions for Western Sale 246 are available in the Final Notice of Sale information package: http://www.boem.gov/Sale-246/.

Offshore