Mike Soraghan, E&E reporter

The Obama administration today formally cancelled two lease sales that were once part of President Obama’s plan for “the largest expansion of our nation’s available offshore oil and gas supplies in three decades.”

But in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the administration filed notices for the Federal Register that state the Interior Department needs time to do environmental reviews, scientific analysis and gather public input.

“Cancellation,” the notices say, “will allow time to develop and implement measures to improve the safety of oil and gas development in Federal waters, provide greater environmental protection, and substantially reduce the risk of catastrophic events.”

One of the lease sales was off Virginia and the other was in the western Gulf in waters as deep as 10,975 feet.

Obama had announced the decision on May 27 when he suspended the 33 deepwater exploratory wells then being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico. Publication in the Federal Register will make it official. The notices will be published tomorrow, over the signature of Michael Bromwich, the head of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, the agency formerly known as the Minerals Management Service.

The filing drew praise from one of the environmental groups most critical of the Obama administration’s handling of the Deepwater Horizon spill.

“Obama’s decision to cancel these lease sales recognizes that risky offshore drilling needs reform,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Halting controversial lease sales is among the most proactive steps that Obama has taken toward the Gulf disaster.”

Special thanks to Richard Charter