H.R. 3410 would revise existing laws and policies regarding the development of oil and gas resources on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). It would repeal statutory restrictions on leasing in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and direct the Department of the Interior (DOI) to conduct certain lease sales in that area. The bill also would reduce the department’s future administrative discretion to schedule OCS auctions and would require that certain auctions be held for leases in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Alaska OCS by 2017.
Leasing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Nearly half of the estimated increase in gross offsetting receipts from enacting H.R. 3410—about $1.1 billion—would result from repealing the temporary ban imposed by the Gulf of Mexico Security Act of 2006 (GOMESA) on leasing areas within 125 miles of the coast of Florida and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. According to DOI, H.R. 3410 would make approximately 4.4 million acres available for leasing as part of the department’s annual lease sales in the Central Gulf of Mexico. The bill also would redraw the boundaries of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico planning area for OCS leasing and extend the statutory ban on leasing in that area by three years—from June 30, 2022 to June 30, 2025 —except for a specified number of acres that would be have to be offered in three special auctions.
Most of the estimated increase in receipts from this region would result from leasing acreage that would be added to the Central Gulf of Mexico planning area. According to DOI, that area contains undiscovered resources estimated to total 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE)—that is, either oil or an equivalent amount of natural gas with the same energy content—as well as additional probable resources that have been identified through prior leasing activity.
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