WASHINGTON — The federal government will hold lease sales next month to open up 45 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas exploration, the Obama administration announced Thursday.

The sales mark the ninth and 10th offshore auctions as part of the administration’s five-year Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program.

More than 60 million acres were offered in the first eight auctions, which drew $3 billion in high bids, according to the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.

“These lease sales continue the president’s commitment to create jobs through the safe and responsible exploration and development of the nation’s domestic energy resources,” said a statement from bureau director Abigail Ross Hopper.

About 44.3 million acres will be offered in Sale 241, ranging from 9 feet to more than 11,115 feet of water off the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama shores.

Sale 226 covers nearly 600,000 acres from 2,657 feet to 10,213 feet deep. The location is south of eastern Alabama and western Florida, with the nearest point of land 125 miles northwest in Louisiana.

The Gulf Restoration Network, a New Orleans environmental group, opposes the plan, citing a failure by the industry and government to improve the safety of offshore drilling and production. The industry has more than 23 million acres under lease in the Gulf of Mexico’s federal waters, but only 18 percent are producing.