(CN) - After legal challenges over protections for the endangered Rice's whale caused a monthslong delay, the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management opened bids Wednesday for oil and gas exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. 

According to statistics published by the bureau on Tuesday, there were bids on 311 of the 13,530 tracts on offer, or about 2.3% of more than 72.7 million acres available. Of those, 80 are in depths under 800 meters (about 2,600 feet); 125 are deeper than 800 meters; and 106 are deeper than 1,600 meters (about 5,200 feet). For comparison, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 was drilling at 1,600 meters. 

Twenty-six companies submitted bids totaling $441,896,332. The high bids opened Wednesday totaled $382,168,507.

The sale was originally scheduled for Sept. 27 but was delayed after the state of Louisiana and energy companies sued the department for including new protections for the Rice's whale, a species scientists believe number fewer than 100. According to a notice of sale published in August, the bureau removed certain tracts in the whale's primary breeding grounds, while it also sought to limit vessel speeds to prevent deadly whale strikes.  

Environmental groups intervened, but the sale was allowed to proceed Nov. 14 after a favorable ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which issued an order requiring the bureau to remove the protections and to conduct the sale within 37 days.

During Wednesday's sale, Jim Kendall, regional director at the bureau, thanked those who provided input on the sale and noted "we are committed to good stewardship of the environment." 

In a statement, Kristen Monsell of the Center for Biological Diversity said the organization was disappointed by the Fifth Circuit's ruling. 

"[It] increases the risk of oil spills and devastating harms to Rice's whale and other desperately imperiled wildlife in the Gulf," she wrote in an email. "As the climate crisis accelerates, the oil industry's greed is a terrifying threat to our planet's future." 

The organization has also sued the Department of Interior in the District of Columbia for what it characterizes as an inadequate environmental review for its latest sale, but the case is stayed pending the resolution of litigation in Louisiana.

Wednesday's sale marked the second conducted under the terms of the Inflation Reduction Act, which made new domestic oil and gas production a prerequisite for expanding clean energy, particularly offshore wind farms. In March, the agency auctioned some 1.6 million acres for new oil and gas development.

Separately, on Dec. 15, the Interior Department published details of its offshore leasing program through 2029, noting additional oil and gas lease sales are scheduled in 2025, 2027 and 2029. The program also expands the availability of acreage for offshore wind production, although it primarily targets the northern Atlantic Ocean, not the Gulf. 

The Biden administration has a goal of producing at least 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030. The U.S. produces just .042 gigawatts of offshore wind electricity now. 

The American Petroleum Institute, which represented energy companies in the Louisiana litigation, said it was displeased with the new plan. The group claims 2024 will be "the first year since 1966 without an offshore oil and gas lease sale," while the three sales scheduled under the plan are "the fewest oil and gas lease sales in history."

"Demand for affordable, reliable energy is only growing, yet the administration is choosing to limit future production in a region that plays a critical role in powering our nation and supplies among the lowest carbon-intensive barrels in the world," the Institute said in a statement. "This program is a step in the wrong direction for U.S. energy security and will only make it harder to meet growing energy demand over the long term."

But the Sierra Club, another environmental organization that intervened in the Louisiana case, disagreed. In response to the new offshore plan, Lands Protection Program Director Athan Manuel said oil companies "will sacrifice anything ... if it means lining their pockets a bit more."

"We need to rapidly move away from fossil fuels," he said. "The Biden Administration finalized a five year plan for offshore fossil fuel development that proposes three additional lease sales, but even that new leasing isn't enough for these corporations."

Source: Courthouse News Service