The process was halted "so that information from the ongoing review of outer continental shelf safety issues that the President has directed can be appropriately considered in those meetings," according to an MMS statement.
Oil spill may threaten offshore drilling plansLast week president Obama said all new offshore drilling will be halted until the cause of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is identified.
But leases for new oil wells were not expected for at least a year, whereas the investigation should wrap up in months.
Thursday's announcement is the first time the Obama administration has actually put the brakes on a plan to open up more areas of the country to offshore drilling.
Obama has supported increased drilling in the past, and just a month ago opened up a few new areas for drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, off the East Coast and in Alaska.
That was the first offering of new leases in the Atlantic since 2008, when a decades-old ban on new offshore drilling expired.
0:00/5:41BP oil spill lawsuitObama has emphasized he still supports increased domestic oil production, but says it needs to be done safely.
The BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, where an oil rig exploded last week, continues to unfold. Eleven of the rig's workers are presumed dead, and oil is still leaking into the Gulf in what could be one of the worst spills in U.S. history.
The ban on offshore drilling and its subsequent lifting refer only to new drilling. A big swath of the Gulf of Mexico has always been open to oil production, and produces nearly a third of the country's crude.
Gulf spill won’t dampen U.S. appetite for oilOil spill may threaten offshore drilling plans
