KEY TAKEAWAYS:

Oil companies offered $279M for Gulf of Mexico drilling rights in first of 30 planned sales.

Lease sales mandated by Republican tax-and-spending bill with 12.5% royalty rate for deep-water drilling.

Environmentalists warn of increased oil spill risks and threats to endangered marine life.

Major bidders include Chevron , Shell , and BP ; litigation may delay some drilling operations.

Oil companies offered $279 million for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday in the first of 30 sales planned for the region under Republican efforts to ramp up U.S. fossil fuel production .

The sale came after President Donald Trump’s administration recently announced plans to allow new drilling off Florida and California for the first time in decades. That’s drawn p

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