The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has published a final notice to hold the next offshore oil and gas lease sale for acreage in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) in September 2023. This comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s new measures, which are being put in place to strengthen workers’ safety and enhance the safety and oversight standards of offshore oil and gas operations on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, which President Joe Biden signed into law in August 2022, outlined that it would reinstate the vacated Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 257 and hold the cancelled lease sales 258 , 259 , and 261 . Is this energy bill living up to the expectations of opening the door to more federal onshore and offshore lease sales ? Based on the Inflation Reduction Act, Lease Sale 261 needs to be held no later than 30 September 2023.