Gulf of Mexico's oil riches raises environmental concerns for Biden
US offshore crude production is expected to hit historic levels, but the future of federal leases is doubtful.
At a dock in Texas, construction workers are finishing up a 20-story oil platform.
It will be hauled 75 miles off the coast of Louisiana this month in order to extract 100,000 barrels of oil per day from a Gulf of Mexico subsea oilfield.
One of the brand-new, multibillion-dollar projects that will start extracting crude from federal seas offshore this year is the Shell-operated project.
The government of President Joe Biden is faced with the serious question of how many will follow in the future.
In the next five years, the administration has proposed holding fresh oil lease auctions in waters under its jurisdiction.
The government can choose to undertake up to 10 lease auctions in the Gulf and one more off Alaska, or it can decide not to hold any additional lease sales at all.