BP stays out of bidding for gulf drilling BP decided not to bid for new drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday because of uncertainty over the US government's ban on it signing new contracts. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which handles offshore drilling rights, said last week that BP would be allowed to bid in the auction, but would only be able to take up any leases if the contract ban was lifted within 90 days. The ban was imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency in November after BP agreed a $4bn settlement with the US government of criminal charges over the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. The agreement included BP pleading guilty to 14 charges, including 11 counts of manslaughter. Neither the company nor the EPA has given any indication of how the debarment from federal contracts will last, although it has been described as temporary. BP said it had decided not to join Wednesday's auction in New Orleans because it already had an extensive portfolio of gulf acreage with leases on nearly 700 blocks, and because of the uncertainty over the contract ban. The company said it hoped to "reach a reasonable resolution with regulators" so it could once again sign contracts with the US government. The lease sale showed continued high interest from other companies in acquiring leases in the gulf, raising $1.2bn from the highest-placed bids.