An upcoming sale of federal Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leases was officially postponed Thursday amid legal fights over protections for an endangered species of whale.
A federal appellate panel last week paused a separate appeals panel's order that the sale be held next Wednesday. Oil industry advocates had pressed President Joe Biden's administration to go ahead with the sale anyway. But the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it was postponing the event because of the legal uncertainties heading into a Nov. 13 appeals court hearing.
