The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), part of the US Department of the Interior (DoI), has completed the Lease Sale Big Beautiful Gulf 1.
This is the first offshore oil and gas lease sale under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA), in which 30 companies participated, submitting a total of 219 bids amounting to $371.8m.
This sale generated $279.4m in high bids for 181 blocks located within 80 million acres of federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM).
According to the DoI’s statement, the lease sale aligns with Executive Order 14154, ‘Unleashing American Energy’.
The order instructs federal agencies to expedite offshore oil and gas activities to reduce energy costs, supporting the US’ national energy security.
Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum said: “President Trump made clear from day one that the United States will no longer be held back by bad policy or foreign dependence.
“Today’s lease sale is another major milestone in rebuilding American Energy Dominance by unlocking investment, strengthening our energy security, creating jobs and ensuring Americans have access to affordable and reliable energy.
“The Trump administration is delivering results, and the Gulf of America is once again leading the way.”
In this lease sale, the BOEM has offered approximately 15,000 unleased blocks across the Western, Central, and parts of the Eastern Gulf Planning Areas.
The bureau applied a 12.5% royalty rate, the lowest deep-water royalty since 2007, for both shallow and deep-water leases.
Covering 160 million acres, the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Gulf of Mexico is believed to hold around 29.59 billion barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil and 54.84 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
Proceeds from offshore energy operations will be used to fund the US Treasury, the Gulf Coast states, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the Historic Preservation Fund.
BOEM Acting Director Matt Giacona said: “The strong bidding we saw today reflects sustained industry confidence in the long-term potential of the US OCS and the clear direction of this administration to expand responsible offshore development.”
British oil and gas company bp, Australia-based Woodside Energy and US oil major Chevron have emerged as top winners in the lease sale in the GoM since 2023, according to a Reuters report.
In August this year, US President Donald Trump announced the planned sale of more than 30 offshore oil and gas leases in the GoM and Alaska’s Cook Inlet over the next 15 years.