Companies bid $264M in Gulf oil sale mandated by climate law

By KEVIN McGILL and MATTHEW BROWN
Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Oil companies including Chevron and ExxonMobil offered a combined $264 million for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico in a sale mandated by last year’s climate bill compromise. Wednesday’s Department of Interior auction could further test the loyalty of environmentalists and young voters who backed President Joe Biden but were frustrated by this month’s approval of the huge Willow drilling project in northern Alaska. The auction was the first in the Gulf in more than a year and drew interest from industry giants including ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron. Bids were up 38% from the last auction and marked the most offered in a sale since 2017.