A total of 42 offshore companies showed up to the Central Gulf of Mexico (GoM) Lease Sale 235 that drew in more than US$538 million in high bids for exploration and development in the area.
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Gulf of Mexico map. From BOEM. |
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held the lease sale today (18 March) for areas on the US Outer Continental Shelf offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
A total of 195 bids on 169 tracts that cover about 923,700 acres, were made by 42 offshore energy companies at the lease sale at a total of $583,201,520. BOEM estimates the sale could result in the production of 460-890 MMbbl, and 1.9-3.9 Tcf of natural gas.
Lease Sale 235 offered 7788 unleased blocks, covering about 41.2 million acres that are located from 3-230 nautical miles offshore in 9-11,115ft water depth.
Together, Red Willow Offshore and Houston Energy made the highest single bid at more than $52 million. Chevron and Venari Offshore that teamed up for the next highest bid at 43.1 million.
Shell walked away with the most bids at 17, followed by Statoil with 14, Venari with 12 and Chevron and ExxonMobil, each with 11 bids.
Following the lease sale, each bid will go through a strict evaluation process within BOEM.
“As one the most productive basins in the world, the Gulf of Mexico continues to be the keystone of the Nation’s offshore oil and gas resources,” BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper said. “The recent drop in oil prices and continued low natural gas prices obviously affect industry’s short-term investment decisions, but the Gulf’s long-term value to the nation remains high and the President’s energy strategy continues to offer millions of offshore acres for development while protecting the human, marine and coastal environments, and ensuring a fair return to the American people.”
“The Gulf remains a critical component of our nation’s energy portfolio and holds important energy resources that spur economic opportunities for Gulf producing states, creating jobs and home-grown energy and reducing our dependence on foreign oil,” said Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell.
Lease Sale 235 is the seventh offshore sale under the Obama Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program) and builds on the first six sales held that offered up more than 60 million acres for development, garnered $2.4 billion in bid revenues and awarded 877 leases. Obama’s Five Year Program makes offshore areas available with the highest resource potential and includes 75% of the nation’s undiscovered, technically recoverable offshore oil and gas resources.
Read more:
NOIA on Central GoM lease sale 235
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