* Auction drew stronger bidding than March but trailed

December's bidding

* Offshore fields provide about 15% of US output but face

higher costs

* Environmental group says deepwater bids increase risks to

wildlife and Gulf communities

* Industry says auction is about lowering energy prices for

consumers, national security

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - The latest Trump

administration sale of oil and gas drilling rights in the Gulf

of Mexico attracted nearly $82.7 million in high bids on

Wednesday, generating more money than a sale in March, but far

less than one held in December.

The Trump administration offered more than 80 million acres

(32.4 million hectares) in the Gulf of Mexico to drillers as

part of an effort to boost domestic energy production with

regular offshore lease sales.

The sale is the second since the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran

disrupted global crude flows and ​sent oil prices to four-year

highs. It is the third of 30 mandated by U.S. President Donald

Trump's 2025 tax cut and spending law that are planned to run to

2040.

Kate MacGregor, deputy secretary of the Department of the

Interior, who helped read the bids at a New Orleans museum, said

the regular auctions "unleash the promise of offshore oil and

gas." Trump's predecessor, former President Joe Biden,

campaigned in 2020 on blocking offshore lease sales but held

them sporadically after lawsuits.

The Interior Department offered 15,100 blocks located

between 3 and 231 miles (4.8 to 372 km) offshore on the U.S.

Outer Continental Shelf. Water depths range from 9 feet to more

than 11,100 feet (2.7 meters to 3,380 meters).

16 COMPANIES BID

Sixteen companies submitted a total of 69 bids on 330,000

acres, or about 0.4% of the 81 million acres offered in the Gulf

of Mexico, an international body of water that Trump renamed the

Gulf of America under an executive order.

The second auction in March generated nearly $47 million in

high bids for 25 blocks across roughly 141,000 acres. That was

far less than the first auction in December mandated by the 2025

law, which yielded $279.4 million in high bids.

Offshore production accounts for about 15% of U.S. output,

but has lagged onshore shale fields in recent years because of

longer timelines and higher upfront costs.

Companies that won drilling rights included units of BP

, Chevron ( CVX ), and Shell.

The energy industry praised the sale even though it

attracted less interest than December's.

"Today's lease sale is about far more than today's bids,"

said Erik Milito, president of the National Ocean Industries

Association. "It's about ensuring America has the energy it

needs to keep prices affordable, strengthen national security,

and power economic growth for decades to come."

Julia Forgie, senior attorney at the Natural Resources

Defense Council, criticized the sale as auctioning off ocean

waters to the highest bidder. The administration has exempted

some oil and gas operations from endangered species law

protection. Environmentalists said many of the bids were for

leases in deep and ultra-deep water, where drilling is riskiest.

"This lease sale is another unacceptable giveaway that

threatens wildlife, coastal economies, and the livelihoods of

the people who depend on a healthy Gulf," Forgie said.