US Offers Over 48Mln Acres in Gulf of Mexico for Offshore Drilling

The United States will offer more than 48 million acres in the Central Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas offshore drilling, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said in a statement on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The lease sale is scheduled to take place on March 22, 2017 in the US state of Louisiana and includes more than 9,000 blocks located three to 230 miles offshore.

"Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Abigail Ross Hopper today announced the bureau will offer more than 48 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama for oil and gas exploration and development, in a lease sale that will include all available unleased areas in the Central Planning Area," the statement said.

The sale is open to international bidders, the release added.

Next year’s sale will be the 12th and final under the current administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing program.

The five-year program was established to increase domestic US oil and gas production and has generated more than $3 billion, the release said.