Appeals court ends challenge to 2021 Gulf oil, gas lease sale

A lawsuit by environmentalists seeking to block the 2021 sale of Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases auctioned off by the federal government was rejected Friday by a federal appeals court in Washington.

Energy companies including Shell, BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil offered a combined $192 million for drilling rights on federal oil and gas reserves in the Gulf of Mexico.

Leases from the sale were issued under provisions of a compromise climate bill, dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act by its supporters, which was signed into law last year by President Joe Biden. The appeals court said Friday that the legislation made the legal challenges moot.

The ruling noted the challenges were based on arguments that the government scheduled the sale without properly following procedures under the National Environmental Protection Act.

"But the leases are now being issued pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act, so the challenged agency action is no longer the basis for the issuance of the l...