Agency OKs nearly $190M in bids from offshore oil lease sale

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Biden administration has accepted nearly $190 million in bids from an offshore oil and gas lease sale that was held nearly a year ago but rejected by a federal judge. Wednesday’s action by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management was required under the climate bill signed in August — something that disappointed environmentalists and was hailed by industry. The law also requires the bureau to schedule three sales that had been put on hold by President Joe Biden, with the first held by Dec. 31. An American Petroleum Institute official says he’s pleased that the sale has gone through but disappointed “that it took 19 months and an act of Congress.”