THE WOODLANDS, TEXAS – March 11, 2026 – Arena Energy, LLC (“Arena”), a leading independent oil and gas exploration company focused on the Gulf of America Shelf, recently welcomed senior federal officials aboard White Fleet Drilling’s WFD 400 jack-up rig at Arena’s Main Pass 120 platform, offering a firsthand look at the offshore operations that help power American homes and businesses.
The trip included Deputy Secretary of the Interior Kate MacGregor; Congressman Pete Stauber, Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources; Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Lanny Erdos; Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Acting Director Matt Giacona; Congressman Stauber’s Chief of Staff Desiree Koetzle and Energy and Natural Resources Policy Director Shawn Rusterholz; and members of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) team.
The visit gave officials a working view of the scale, complexity, and skilled workforce behind offshore production operations that generate billions of dollars in federal revenue for U.S. taxpayers while delivering reliable American energy.
Veriten Founder and CEO Maynard Holt and his team also joined the trip, recording a live episode of the COBT podcast with Deputy Secretary MacGregor and Congressman Stauber from the jack-up rig.
“There’s no substitute for standing on a working drilling rig and producing oil and gas platform to understand what it takes to produce American energy safely and reliably. We were glad to give Deputy Secretary MacGregor, Congressman Stauber, and their teams a firsthand look at the men and women who make that happen every day in the Gulf,” said Mike Minarovic, Co-Founder and CEO of Arena Energy.
Arena thanks Deputy Secretary MacGregor, Chairman Stauber, and their teams for making the trip, and remains committed to working with our federal partners to unlock the vast potential of the Gulf of America Shelf and advancing American Energy Dominance.
About Arena Energy
Arena Energy, LLC was founded in 1999 on the belief that mature producing areas of the Gulf of America Shelf still held vast potential – and that with the right technology, talented oil and gas finders could unlock these drilling opportunities. Today, that vision has been realized many times over. Since its founding, Arena has grown into one of the largest private offshore oil and natural gas companies, having invested more than $5 billion of capital in the Gulf of America, paid $1.8 billion in royalties to the federal government, and decommissioned over three hundred wells and forty-five platforms and other structures. Arena takes pride in safely and responsibly producing the energy that powers the United States and the world.
Contact Information:
Kevin Bruce
Vice President – Government Affairs
kbruce@arenaoffshore.com
281-210-0536