FILE – A rig and supply vessel are pictured in the Gulf of Mexico, off the cost of Louisiana, April 10, 2011. The Biden administration’s plan to protect an endangered species of whale by scaling back an auction of oil and gas drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico is being challenged by the oil industry. The conflicting federal lawsuits — one filed Thursday, Aug. 24, 2023, in southwest Louisiana by oil interests, the other announced Friday, Aug. 25, in Washington by the organization Earthjustice — focus on a planned sale of oil and gas leases set for Sept. 27 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
