The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said it will offer 77.8 million acres for oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) as part of a regionwide lease sale set for Aug. 21.

Lease Sale 253, the fifth offshore sale under the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas Leasing Program, will make available about 14,585 unleased blocks. The blocks are located from three to 231 miles offshore in water depths ranging from three to more than 3,400 m (nine to more than 11,115 ft), BOEM said in a news release.

Terms include a 12.5% royalty rate for leases in less than 200 m of water depth, and a royalty rate of 18.75% for all other leases.

“This lease sale is a critical part of BOEM’s multi-faceted effort to secure our nation’s energy future,” BOEM Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Mike Celata said in the release. “Environmentally responsible exploration and development of the Gulf’s vital energy resources continues to help power our nation and drive our economy.”

The sale doesn’t include blocks subject to the congressional moratorium established by the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006; blocks adjacent to or beyond the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone in the area known as the northern portion of the Eastern Gap; and whole blocks and partial blocks within the current boundaries of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary.

BOEM said the GoM OCS spans about 160 million acres and contains an estimated 48 billion barrels of undiscovered technically recoverable oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered technically recoverable gas.

For more information about the upcoming sale, visit BOEM’s website.

Offshore