The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced that it will open and publicly announce bids received for blocks offered in the Gulf of Mexico Regionwide Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 259 as required by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

DOI reassigned responsibilities for the administration of certain regulations governing renewable energy development and alternate uses of existing facilities on the outer continental shelf, transferring them from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management proposed reforms to its renewable energy program, including proposals for incremental funding of decommissioning accounts; more flexible geophysical and geotechnical survey submission requirements; streamlined approval of meteorological buoys; revised project verification procedures; reform of the Bureau’s renewable energy auction process; and greater clarity regarding safety requirements.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced that it will open and publicly announce bids received for blocks offered in the Cook Inlet Planning Area Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Lease Sale 258 as required by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022.

DOI withdrew in its entirety the proposed rule published on December 9, 2020, entitled “Revisions to the Requirements for Exploratory Drilling on the Arctic Outer Continental Shelf.”

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement proposed to revise their existing regulations for exploratory drilling and related operations on the Arctic outer continental shelf to reduce unnecessary burdens on stakeholders.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) proposed to streamline the evaluation criteria for determining whether oil, gas, and sulfur lessees, right-of-use and easement grant holders, and pipeline right-of-way grant holders may be required to provide bonds or other security above the prescribed amounts for base bonds to ensure compliance with their Outer Continental Shelf obligations; BOEM’s portion of the proposed rule also removes restrictive provisions for third-party guarantees and decommissioning accounts, and adds new criteria under which additional bonds and third-party guarantees may be cancelled.