Oil and gas companies bid $279 million in the first lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico since 2023, according to the Associated Press.

The AP reported Wednesday that 30 companies submitted bids on the lease, the first of 30 sales planned for the Gulf as Trump and Republicans in Congress work to boost already record-breaking fossil fuel production. The administration has recently announced plans to open up drilling in parts of Florida and California for the first time in decades.

The most recent Gulf lease was in March 2023, a requirement in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that involved a compromise between Democratic leaders and conservative Democratic former Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. That lease is blocked by litigation, with a federal appeals court ruling in March that Interior Department officials did not adequately consider its effects on climate change and the endangered Rice’s whale.