U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said Sept. 30 it will hold a lease sale Nov. 17 for oil and gas exploration in Gulf of Mexico. It will include 15,135 blocks from 3 to 231 miles offshore in water depths from 9 to 11,115 feet. Royalty rates will be 12.5 percent for leases in less than 200 meters of water and 18.75 percent for all other leases. The Biden administration instituted a leasing pause on public lands shortly after he took office in January, but leasing agencies BOEM and Bureau of Land Management were told in June by a federal court to resume.