Lease Sale 261

What’s New?

On February 24, 2026, BOEM announced a Record of Decision reaffirming its prior decisions regarding Gulf of America’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sales 259 and 261. This ROD supports BOEM’s continued commitment to responsible offshore energy development strengthening environmental safeguards and legal compliance.

This decision follows the August 29, 2025, publication of the Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Gulf of America Regional OCS Oil and Gas Lease Sales and Post-Lease Activities. The Programmatic EIS provides a comprehensive framework for future environmental review of post-lease plans, permits, and site-specific activities. It will help ensure consistency and efficiency in future National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, evaluations across the Gulf region.

Environment

GOM LS 261 ROD signed (294.75 KB)

GOM LS 261 ROD (214.68 KB)

Gulf of Mexico GHG Analysis Updates for LS 261 (48.87 MB)

Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales 259 and 261 Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

Final Bid Recap

Sale 261 Final Bid Recap (344.75 KB)

Bid Evaluation Results

Phase 2 Decision Matrix (31.11 KB) (April 10, 2024)

Phase 2 Acceptances by Submitter (19.39 KB) (April 10, 2024)

Phase 2 Acceptances (41.86 KB) (March 21, 2024)

Phase 2 - Acceptances (51.78 KB) (March 12, 2024)

Phase 2 - Acceptances (50.73 KB) (February 27, 2024)

Phase 2 Acceptance (202.75 KB) (February 20, 2024)

Phase 2 Acceptance (90.55 KB) (February 2, 2024)

Phase 2 Acceptance (78.51 KB) (January 23, 2024)

Sale Video

Sale 261 results

Sale 261 opening remarks and bid reading

Notification of EFT 1/5 Bonus Liability

Sale-261-Notification-of-EFT (96.35 KB) (December 20, 2023)

Sale Statistics

The documents below contain statistical information specific to Sale 261 held on December 20, 2023. The reports organize the data in several different ways.

Sale Statistics - Includes general summary information on sale bids.

Preliminary Bid Recap by Area & Block for All Bids (Report 1) - Includes complete information on all blocks that received bids. A final bid recap which includes bid acceptance and rejection results will be posted approximately three months after sale day.

High Bids Ranked by Bid Amount (Report 4) - Includes information on all high bids in ranked order.

Analysis of Bids by Company - Includes information on all bids by all companies.

Summaries of Company Bids (Report 6) - Includes bidding information by companies. The four reports are sorted by company as follows:

Sale 261 ZIP - This file displays bid information on acreage, royalty rates, and companies participating in this sale. It contains five fixed format, ASCII data files of tract, bid, and company data as well as a text file which shows the record layouts.

Lease Sale Map - Bid Distribution

Lease Sale Map – Bid Distribution (December 20, 2023): PDF file | Zipped postscript file* | ARCGIS Online Interactive Map

Active Leases and Bids Received Map (December 20, 2023): PDF file | Zipped postscript file* | ARCGIS Online Interactive Map

*Note: This is an encapsulated Postscript plot file generated by ArcView. WinZip 8.1 was used to compress this file. Please read our disclaimer prior to downloading files.

Blocks Receiving Bids

Blocks Receiving Bids (December 20, 2023)
Blocks Receiving Bids - ASCII file

Note: This file contains the two letter area identifier, block number, and number of bids received on that block. Please read our disclaimer prior to downloading files.

Miscellaneous Presale Statistics

Sale 261 Miscellaneous Presale Statistics (3.54 KB) (December 19, 2023)

Final Notice of Sale

Final NOS 261 (scheduled for Nov. 20, 2023)
Information to Lessees for Sale 261
Lease Stipulations for Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261
List of Blocks Available for Leasing (pdf file or zipped ASCII file)
Unleased Split Blocks and Available Unleased Acreage of Blocks and Irregular Portions

GDIS Information:

Example of Preferred Format includes:

Geophysical Data and Information Statement (GDIS),
Example of GDIS Spreadsheet, Table Definitions and Envelope,
Submittal of Reprocessed Data Survey Map, and
Example of Live Trace Map and Submission Instructions

Blank GDIS Excel Spreadsheet
For Potential Bidders - Provided for your reference and suggested use is a blank digital copy of the GDIS table, in Excel format, which you may download, complete and submit along with the GDIS and your bid.

Question and Answer section for the GDIS

Bidder Information:

Sale Maps:

Lease Terms and Economic Conditions
(pdf file or zipped postscript file or ARCGIS Online Interactive Map)
Stipulations and Deferred Blocks
(pdf file or zipped postscript file or ARCGIS Online Interactive Map)

News Releases

Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 Results Announced (December 20, 2023)

Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 Scheduled (November 16, 2023)

Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 Postponed Pending Further Direction from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (November 2, 2023)

BOEM Announces Updated Terms for Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale (October 5, 2023)

BOEM Postpones Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 (September 26, 2023)

BOEM Complying with Court Order Regarding Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261 (September 22, 2023)

BOEM Publishes Final Notice of Sale for Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale (August 23, 2023)

BOEM Will Publish Proposed Notice of Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale (March 10, 2023)

Instructions for Making EFT Bonus Payments

Sale-261-EFT instruction (2).pdf (185.58 KB) (April 2023)

Proposed Notice of Sale Package

Proposed Notice of Sale Package

Proposed NOS 261
Proposed NOS 261 Information to Lessees
Lease Stipulations for Oil and Gas Lease Sale 261
Example of Preferred Format: Geophysical Data and Information Statement and Sample Envelope
Blank GDIS Excel Spreadsheet
For Potential Bidders - Provided for your reference and suggested use is a blank digital copy of the GDIS table, in Excel format, which you may download, complete and submit along with the GDIS and your bid.
Question and Answer section for the GDIS
Bid Form and Envelope
Companies bidding on blocks that are divided by the Central/Eastern Planning area boundary (specifically those blocks that are in DeSoto Canyon (Map number NH16-11), Lloyd Ridge (Map number NG16-02) and Henderson (Map number NG16-05 ) in the official protraction diagrams) shall provide the acreage as described in the List of Available Blocks by Planning Area noted on the bid and the bid envelope.
Sale Maps
- Proposed Sale Map
- Lease Terms and Economic Conditions (pdf file) or (zipped postscript file*)
- Stipulations and Deferred Blocks (pdf file) or (zipped postscript file*)
  
  *Note: These are enhanced Postscript plot files generated by ArcGIS. They can be plotted locally. Version 19.0 of WINZIP was used to compress these files.