Federal officials making changes to some oil-lease terms

Associated Press

5 years ago

FILE - In this July 28, 2010 file photo, drilling pipes are seen rising to the top of the Murphy Front Runner deep water oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana. Attempts to curb the spread of COVID-19 have visited a kind of triple economic whammy on the state. As oil prices have plummeted, the industry laid off workers. Tourism has dried up, meaning more lost jobs. And one major tourist draw — cuisine built around fin fish, shrimp, oyster and crabs — is also suffering. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A federal oil lease sale in November will be the first in a decade to offer 10-year leases at some depths.

Since 2010, leases in depths of about a half-mile to nearly a mile have run for seven years, with a three-year extension available for companies that have started a well on their lease.

The Bureau of Offshore Energy Management says that after carefully studying the past 10 years’ data, it is changing back to the practice before 2010.

It is offering about 78 million acres in water from nine feet to more than 11,115 feet.