"The Interior Department announced Wednesday that it sold $872 million worth of leases in the deep-water Gulf of Mexico to major oil companies.

This was the first sale since 2012 in which BP was able to participate, and the oil giant submitted winning bids for 24 lease blocks for a total of $41.6 million.

Only last week, BP reached an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency, which lifted a ban on BP’s participation in government contracts including leases. The ban had gone into effect for what the EPA called the London-based company’s “lack of business integrity” after it pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico from BP’s Macondo well."

Steven Mufson reports for the Washington Post March 19, 2014. [2]