First of 30 oil lease sales planned for Gulf of Mexico draws $279 million in bids from companies

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 5:04 PM EST, December 10, 2025


WASHINGTON (AP) — Oil companies offered $279 million for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday in the first of 30 sales planned for the region under Republican efforts to ramp up U.S. fossil fuel production.

The sale came after President Donald Trump’s administration recently announced plans to allow new drilling off Florida and California for the first time in decades. That’s drawn pushback, including from Republicans worried about impacts to tourism.

Wednesday’s sale was mandated by the sweeping tax-and-spending bill approved by Republicans over the summer. Under that legislation, companies will pay a 12.5% royalty on oil produced from the leases. That’s the lowest royalty level for deep-water drilling since 2007.

Thirty companies submitted bids, including industry giants Chevron, Shell and BP, federal officials said. The total amount of high bids was down by more than $100 million from the most recent lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, under former Democratic President Joe Biden, in December 2023.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/trump-gulf-of-mexico-oil-lease-sale-1bff978fb31b8eeaf4ebe2e448e39e4b

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First of 30 oil lease sales planned for Gulf of Mexico

AP ain't playin'!!!

[OC375]

1. Seems Cheap?

I would have expected billion dollar bids.

[BumRushDaShow]

3. The U.S. is currently the largest oil producer in the world

Even when Biden was offering leases, the industry was lukewarm because the price/bbl of oil at the time was close to their "breakeven" costs for drilling the new well and thus the profit would not be there. At post time, the WTI price was ~$58.80/bbl.



(above from here - https://www.dallasfed.org/research/surveys/des/2024/2401)

[Evolve Dammit]

2. I believe there are a staggering number of "abandoned" wells in the Gulf. When Deep Water Horizon debacle occured it was

around 23,000. All capped? but no monitoring for ongoing leakage. Some continue to leak unabated. "Beach tar" washes up and the rest is part of the Gulf stream waters. This land ain't made for you and me. No offense to Woody.
Disgusting

[BumRushDaShow]

4. His brain is still stuck back in 2008

when a certain loon blurted "Drill baby Drill". Since that time, the U.S. has become the largest oil producer in the world (thanks to fracking).



There is already a glut forming with OPEC and OPEC+ increasing their output now. That's also why all those wells that were drilled were capped.

What is missing are the refineries, with many closed or closing. I was out today running errands and doing some shopping and only saw a single gas station with gas below $3/gal (here in the Philly area). The rest were averaging ~$3.08 - $3.15/gal.

[Evolve Dammit]

5. Not a fan of fracking as it renders aquifers non-potable for the forseeable future. Drilling fluids very toxic. Our

addiction to cheap fossil fuels is killing the planet.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. Fracking is horrible

and not just the poisoning of the ground and groundwater, but in a number of locations, it has caused swarms of small earthquakes.

[Evolve Dammit]

7. Had friends family in PA and when they signed over their land for fracking, had to agree to never use it for drinking.

[Borogove]

10. It's also a significant contributor to the increasing concentrations of methane in our atmosphere.

[Evolve Dammit]

11. I did not know that. Thanks

[SergeStorms]

8. "Gulf of Mexico?"

It's the Gulf of America," damn it!

[travelingthrulife]

9. Because if we don't have that oil we can't have our glorious wars.