US opens sale lease for oil in Gulf of Mexico

The US government has unveiled its five year plan for the oil industry, which highlights the need for further developments in the Gulf of Mexico and Alaska but has prevented further exploration along the east and west coasts.

Department of the Interior secretary Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) director Tommy P Beaudreau announced the first oil and natural gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

Some 21 million acres have been made available to lease in water depths ranging from 16 to more than 10,975 feet, with the officials predicting that the lease sale could result in the production of 222 to 423 million barrels of oil.

Mr Salazar told the New York Times that the proposed strategy made 75 per cent of undiscovered and potentially recoverable oil and gas available.

However, he added: "We don't believe we should open up every single place and look under every single rock in order to produce oil and gas."

Posted by Lauren Steadman