NEW ORLEANS — The level of interest in new oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico is slowing due to the low price of oil, but federal regulators said they remain optimistic about the future of offshore drilling.
Only 195 bids were placed Wednesday for leases in an area consisting of 41 million acres in the central parts of the Gulf of Mexico off the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. At last year’s equivalent sale, oil companies submitted 380 bids. Past years have drawn more than 500 bids.
This year saw the lowest number of bids since 1986 when 129 were submitted for the Gulf’s central area, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. It says the low price of oil can account for the lackluster interest. In 1986, the economy also saw a drop in oil prices that resulted in a serious oil bust.
Revenues from offshore drilling in U.S. waters are an important source of income for the federal government. Last year, drilling in the Gulf brought in about $7 billion in revenues.
