Secretary Salazar To Announce Results Of 39 Million Acre Offshore Central Gulf Lease Sale

Release Date
06/19/2012

Will tour efforts in Louisiana to repair and restore the Gulf 

NEW ORLEANS, LA — Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Wednesday, June 20, will be in New Orleans to participate in the Central Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale.

Conducted by Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the lease sale will begin at 9:00 a.m. CDT at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, offering 7,434 Outer Continental Shelf tracts from three to more than 230 miles offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. This is the first offshore lease sale in the Central Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon incident and is part of President Obama’s goal of expanding safe and responsible domestic energy production. BOEM has received 593 bids submitted by 48 companies on 454 tracts.

At 12:00 p.m. CDT, Salazar will hold a news media teleconference to announce the results of the Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 216/222.  Salazar will also discuss his tour of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge and Delta National Wildlife Refuge where early restoration projects are underway as part of efforts to repair and restore the Gulf after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

WHO: 

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
BOEM Director Tommy Beaudreau
BOEM Gulf of Mexico Region Director John Rodi

WHAT: 

Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 216/222 and News Teleconference

WHEN: 

Wednesday, June 20, 2011
9:00 a.m. CDT / 10:00 a.m. EDT    Lease Sale Begins
9:30 a.m. CDT / 10:30 a.m. EDT    Media Availability at Superdome
12:00 p.m. CDT / 1:00 p.m. EDT    Press Call: Announce Sale Results 

WHERE: 

Mercedes-Benz Superdome
St. Charles Club Room, 2nd floor
1500 Sugarbowl Drive (Parking Garage 6, enter Gate A)
New Orleans, LA

MEDIA: 

Credentialed media are invited to cover the sale and join the news teleconference by dialing 1-800-593-0647 and providing the access code CENTRAL SALE