The US government Thursday announced plans to lease sites in the Gulf of Mexico for oil exploration.

It is expected to generate one billion barrels of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, according to the US Interior Department's estimates. The sale in June will be the second since the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, Xinhua reported.

Expanding offshore oil and gas production is a key strategy to boost US energy security, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said adding it will help reduce "our dependence on foreign oil and create jobs at home".