The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s first auction of new oil and gas leases in the Gulf of America under the Trump administration drew fewer bids than those seen during the Biden administration.
BOEM on Wednesday held its first auctions, titled “Big Beautiful Gulf 1,” on oil and gas drilling rights in the Gulf of America, which President Donald Trump renamed from the Gulf of Mexico. The auctions are part of the Trump administration’s broader push to expand fossil fuel production.
BOEM said it received 219 bids from 30 companies, covering about 80 million acres and totaling $371 million.
“These strong bidding results represent a clear vote of confidence in the future of the American offshore energy. They demonstrate the industry’s responsiveness and readiness to invest in the U.S. resources and the strength of policies that prioritize energy security and economic growth,” said Laura Robbins, BOEM’s acting regional director in the Gulf of America.
However, those bids were fewer than those it received at the last Gulf sale during the Biden administration.
That sale, in 2023, saw 352 bids from 26 companies, covering 1.73 million acres and raising $382 million. It marked the largest oil auction in the Gulf since 2015. The Trump administration offered nearly 80 million acres in the Gulf at a royalty rate of 12.5%, lower than the Biden administration’s rate of 16.66%.
Robbins told reporters that they do not have second thoughts on lowering the royalty rates despite the drop in bids.
“We were setting forth a schedule of certainty in sales and by doing that, the industry knows that they can expect a sale every March and August for the next 15 years, up till March of 2040, so when you’re setting that level of certainty,” Robbins continued, “they know that they can come in March. They know that they can come in August. They are not pressed to have to come in all at once.”
“We were very pleased with today’s results,” she added.
The auctions were mandated by Trump’s sweeping tax law, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law in July. The auction is part of a 14-year schedule for auctioning off oil and gas drilling rights in the Gulf Coast and southern Alaska waters. At least 30 lease sales are scheduled in the two regions between December 2025 and March 2040.
The auctions mark a significant shift from the Biden administration, which sought to reduce offshore drilling as part of a plan to move toward clean energy sources. The Biden administration had only three lease sales scheduled for 2024 to 2029.
TRUMP PLANS OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS LEASES THROUGH 2040, REVERSING BIDEN SLOWDOWN
“While results of individual lease sales may fluctuate, the real success is the resumption of a regular leasing cadence,” Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries Association, said in a statement.
“Knowing that Big Beautiful Gulf 2 is coming in March 2026 allows companies to plan, study, and refine their bids, rather than being forced to respond to the uncertainty of a politically-driven multi-year pause,” Milito added.
