Opening up more acreage in the Gulf of Mexico to potential oil and gas drillers could bring in more revenue to federal and state coffers, a regulator said. The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it would offer up roughly 45 million acres for exploration development in the Gulf of Mexico through two lease sales in March. The sales mark the ninth and tenth such auctions covered in a five-year lease plan ending next year. BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper said opening up more gulf acreage is part of an effort to capitalize on the nation’s own resource potential. “As an important component of the U.S. energy portfolio, the Gulf of […]