Third Gulf oil lease auction in 8 months brings in $82.7M

The federal government’s auction of offshore oil leases in the Gulf of America on Wednesday brought in $82.7 million in high bids, as participating companies showed strong interest in waters just off the south Texas coast and ultra-deepwater areas.

The Marine Minerals Administration’s third auction of Gulf acreage in eight months, Big Beautiful Gulf 3 (BBG3), took place at the National WWII Museum, with 16 companies submitting 69 total bids on 59 tracts.

While the numbers did not match the $280 million BBG1 sale in December 2025, there was more interest than in the BBG2 auction in March, which brought in just $47 million across 25 blocks, according to data provided by the Marine Minerals Administration, or MMA.

Combined, the three lease sales over the last eight months generated $410.1 million in high bids. In the Biden presidency, the agency held two lease sales, both in 2023, with each mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act. Lease Sale 259 took in $263.8 million in March 2023, followed by Lease Sale ...