Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Auction yields Far Fewer Bids Than First Trump Sale

According to a document posted on the government's website, the second auction of oil and natural gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico by the Trump administration in three months drew far less interest from the industry than the one held in December. Oil prices are at four-year highs due to the U.S.'s war against Iran, which has disrupted crude oil flows around the world. According to the document of pre-sale statistics, 25 of the 15,000 blocks that the US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management offered received bids. This 'compares to 181 blocks which received bids in BOEM’s last Gulf Sale, the first one held in this region since 2023.

Ten companies have submitted 38 bids. These will be broadcast live on Wednesday. BOEM didn't disclose the names or values of the companies.

The blocks which received bids covered 140,753 acres of the total 80.4 million acres that were offered. This auction is the second in a series of 30 required by President Donald Trump’s tax-cut and spending bill, which was signed into law last July. BOEM, an 'arm of the Interior Department, reported that the first auction, held in December, had a total bid amount of $300.4 million. Trump's plans to hold regular offshore lease auctions are a departure from the?plans of former President Joe Biden whose administration planned for a historically low number of oil and... This is the second?offshore?lease sales to be held in this month. The first sale, for more than 1,000,000 acres in Alaska Cook Inlet, received no bids. (Reporting and editing by Stephen Coates; Nichola Groom, Nichola)

(source: Reuters)