H.R. 6082 would establish a schedule for oil and gas lease sales in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) that would replace the leasing plan developed by the Department of the Interior (DOI) for the 2012-2017 period. The bill would direct DOI to auction leases in areas that are not included in DOI’s plan, including the OCS in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and the North Aleutian Basin in Alaska. It also would require auctions to be held earlier and more frequently in certain OCS areas in Alaska and the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Under H.R. 6082, the timetable for sales in the central and western Gulf of Mexico, which occur annually under current policies, would remain unchanged. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6082 would increase offsetting receipts collected from lease sales over the 2013-2022 period, thus reducing net direct spending by about $600 million over that period. Read on at:
http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43466
http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43466