WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-WY), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources (ENR), called on the Biden administration to hold Lease Sale 261 as scheduled. Multiple rounds of administrative review have delayed the sale and called into question the terms on which this lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico will be held.

“The Biden administration must stop using a much needed American energy project as a political football,” Barrasso said. “Yesterday the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources received testimony from a key administration official that ‘all systems are go’ to hold Lease Sale 261 on November 8 – already well past the legally required date. There is no reason to consider more last-minute changes and unnecessary delays. The Biden administration must move forward with this lease sale as announced on October 5. They should not attempt to reattach unlawful restrictions or remove substantial acreage in an attempt to choke off domestic oil and gas production.”