WASHINGTON, March 3 (UPI) -- As much as 200 million barrels of oil and more than 900 billion cubic feet of gas may be available in new acreage in the Gulf of Mexico, the government said.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced more than 21 million acres of offshore acreage goes on the auction block in the western U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico in August.
"The exploration and development of the Gulf of Mexico's vital energy resources will continue to help power our nation and drive our economy," BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper said in a Monday statement.
The bureau said the auction, the eighth under a five-year lease program ending in 2017, includes acreage located from 9 to 250 miles off the southern U.S. coast in water depths ranging from 16 feet to more than 2 miles.
The Gulf of Mexico contributes about 18 percent of total U.S. oil production and 5 percent of total gas production, BOEM said. Previous lease sales under the five-year program brought in more than $2.4 billion in high bids.
BOEM last month announced plans to put more than 40 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico on the auction block March 18. As much as 1 billion barrels of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet worth of production may come from that acreage if the full potential is realized, the government estimated.
Output from the Gulf of Mexico has remained resilient, though many oil and gas companies are cutting their exploration and production budgets as oil prices continue to trade in a bear market.
"[The August] sale is another important step to promote responsible domestic energy production through the safe, environmentally sound exploration and development of the nation's offshore energy resources," Hopper said.
