Gulf oil lease sale postponed by court amid litigation over endangered whale protections

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A sale of federal Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases that had been scheduled for Nov. 8 was delayed Thursday by a federal appeals court, pending court arguments that focus on protections for an endangered whale species.

The Biden administration announced the sale in March and originally scheduled it for Sept. 27. But, in August, the administration reduced the the area available for leases from 73 million acres (30 million hectares) to 67 million acres (27 million hectares), as part of a plan to protect the endangered Rice's whale. The changes from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, or BOEM, also included new speed limits and new requirements for personnel on industry vessels in some of the areas to be leased.

Oil and gas companies sued, resulting in a Lake Charles-based federal judge's order throwing out the changes. The administration appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. The appeals court initially set the sale for Nov. 8 while the appeal proceeded. On Thursday, however, the court issued an order that delays the sale until some time after the case is argued on Nov. 13.

BOEM had adopted the reduced area and new rules for the lease sale as part of an agreement the administration reached with environmentalists in efforts to settle a whale-protection lawsuit filed in federal court in Maryland.