US Gulf lease sale generates $82.7mn in high bids

The latest auction for oil and gas leases in the federal waters of the US Gulf of Mexico generated nearly $82.7mn in high bids this week.

The Lease Sale Big Beautiful Gulf 3 (BBG3), which was the third Gulf auction required under US President Donald Trump’s Working Families Tax Cut Act, was held in New Orleans on August 12. The US Department of the Interior (DoI) said that the high bids had been made for 59 blocks. In total, 16 companies submitted 69 bids totalling nearly $99.5mn.

The Marine Minerals Administration (MMA), part of the DoI, offered around 15,100 unleased blocks covering roughly 80.4mn acres (325,367 square km) across the Western, Central and portions of the Eastern Gulf Planning Areas. The blocks on offer were located from 3 to 231 miles (5 to 372 km) offshore in water depths ranging from 9 feet (3 metres) to more than 11,100 feet (3,383 metres). The lease terms included a 12.5% royalty rate for blocks in all water depths, which the DoI noted was consistent with the minimum allowed under the Working Families Tax Cut Act.

The 69 blocks that attracted bids covered roughly 330,000 acres (1,335 square km), or around 0.4% of the total acreage on offer. Reuters reported that the lease sale generated more money than the previous sale, held in March, but “far less” than the one held in December 2025. The March auction had generated nearly $47mn in high bids for 25 blocks, while the lease sale in December had attracted $279.4mn in high bids for 181 blocks.

BP, Chevron and Shell – all of which are already major operators in the Gulf – were among the high bidders. Other bidders included Woodside Energy, W&T Offshore, LLOG Exploration, Talos Energy, Murphy Oil and Occidental Petroleum unit Anadarko, among others.

Chevron submitted a total of 10 bids and was the successful high bidder in nine of these. Shell was close behind, with eight bids in total and five successful high bids. Murphy was the biggest spender, accounting for six high bids worth a combined $21.5mn. It also accounted for the largest high bid, at $7.7mn for Alaminos Canyon Block 380.

US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum touted the lease sale as advancing Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda, which entails encouraging domestic exploration and production growth. However, lower results in the last two lease sales under the second Trump administration compared with the first auction serve as a reminder that it takes more than favourable policy to spur oil and gas companies to engage in more offshore activity.