Gulf Lease Sale a Positive Step for U.S. Production

Kevin O'Scannlain
Posted November 17, 2021

Today’s scheduled Gulf of Mexico oil and natural gas lease sale is a positive step for American energy and a more secure energy future. We’re hopeful the sale signals Biden administration willingness to work with America’s oil and gas producers to foster safe and responsible development on federal lands and waters.

The federal offshore is particularly strategic, since development there can take seven to 10 years to reach production. The industry urges the administration to follow up today’s Lease Sale 257 with more sales and to take the necessary steps to establish a new five-year offshore leasing program to replace the current program, which expires next year.

A new offshore leasing program will go a long way toward fostering the certainty that companies producing in the U.S. need to make the investments and commit the resources needed to develop critical offshore energy for the future.

With the rise in energy costs we’ve seen and demand projected to continue growing, safely and responsibly developing America’s offshore oil and gas is key to putting downward pressure on global crude costs while helping the U.S. avoid increased reliance on imports from countries that aren’t our friends – weakening American energy security.

U.S. offshore leasing and production also is needed to avoid importing oil produced under less-stringent environmental rules than those applied to domestic crude production. An Obama-era report analyzing the effects of offshore leasing restrictions also found that U.S. greenhouse gas emissions will be little affected and could increase slightly if foreign imports increased in the absence of new U.S. offshore leasing and production.

As noted above, today’s sale is an opportunity to encourage U.S. producers. We’ll be watching the sale results with that in mind.