BP Wins Big in Trump’s First Gulf of Mexico Oil Lease Sale
Energy Firms Offered More Than $279M in Winning Bids, About $100M Less Than Most Recent Sale in December 2023
Key Takeaways:
- BP won the most acreage in the Dec. 10 Gulf of Mexico lease sale, where companies offered more than $279 million in the first auction of Trump’s second term.
- The total fell about $100 million short of the 2023 sale, which Interior officials said reflected companies’ ability to bid more selectively under a mandated regular schedule.
- The administration plans dozens more lease sales as environmental groups warn of spill risks and industry groups praise the renewed predictability for investment.
[Stay on top of transportation news: .]
A unit of BP was the high bidder in a U.S. auction for oil and gas drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico, the first sale held during President Donald Trump’s second term. Energy companies offered more than $279 million in winning bids.
The Interior Department’s auction Dec. 10 was the first in the Gulf since 2023. Companies bid on 181 tracts across roughly 80 million acres of federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump renamed the Gulf of America. The auction drew 219 bids and was widely viewed as a gauge of industry confidence in finding oil and getting it to market quickly. It generated about $100 million less than theDecember 2023sale held under then-President Joe Biden.
Interior officials said the lower total reflected a shift in strategy. With lease sales now required on a regular schedule under Trump, companies can place bids more selectively.
“When you are setting that level of certainty, they know they don’t have to come all at once,” Laura Robbins, an acting regional director with Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, told reporters after the auction. “We feel like this was a very successful sale.”
BP Exploration & Production offered nearly $61 million for 50 successful bids, according to the agency. Woodside Energy offered $38 million for eight successful bids, BOEM said. A unit of Chevron Corp.’s 22 successful bids totaled $33 million, per the agency.
An offshore oil platform stands in the Gulf of Mexico near Grand Isle, La. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg)
Environmentalists criticized the sale, arguing it increases the risk of spills in a fragile ecosystem.
“A lease sale is the first step toward an oil spill catastrophe,” said Joseph Gordon, a campaign director with the environmental group Oceana. “This latest offshore drilling lease was mandated by Congress in the worst environmental bill in American history, and it will recklessly open millions of acres of our ocean to drilling and spilling. We need to protect our coasts, not destroy them.”
Trump’s signature tax-and-spending package, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, mandates 30 Gulf lease sales and requires six more in Alaska’s Cook Inlet. Draft planslast month by the administration call for holding 34 additional sales, including new areas off the coasts of California, Alaska and Florida, though those proposals are likely to be scaled back before final approval.
Industry groups welcomed the return to a predictable schedule, saying it provides the certainty needed to plan investments.
“The door has reopened to the Gulf of America,” said Erik Milito, the president of the National Ocean Industries Association, which represents offshore energy producers. “Lease sales are foundational to U.S. energy production and remain one of the most important tools to attract investment, support jobs in all 50 states and build American energy dominance.”
Want more news? Listen to today's daily briefing belowor go here for more info:
