Gulf Lease News

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday ordered that a postponed federal auction of drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico be held within 37 days, a setback for environmentalists seeking expanded protections for the endangered Rice's whale.According to court papers, the New Orleans-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit dismissed an effort by four green groups to block an expansion of the sale ordered by a lower court judge in September.The judges said the groups lacked standing to challenge the September decision.

“Historically, Central and Eastern Gulf of Mexico lease sales have drawn strong interest from industry; however, a combination of factors – continued low commodity prices, increased Federal regulation, and the Administration’s clear lack of support for domestic fossil fuel production – could result in rather small sales tomorrow, continuing the downward trend witnessed over the past few years. In this tough economic environment, we have seen a pattern of some companies submitting bids in an attempt to shore up existing production areas and pick up leases near known deposits, while others bet against the curve, and pick up some future important areas.

Vessels are stacked as Gulf oil operators retrench and day rates fall. In the Gulf of Mexico, vessels serving offshore oil-and-gas exploration and production are being stacked or idled as the rig count there declines. Oil companies are retrenching while crude prices remain weak, with smaller operators and the shallow-water sector scaling back the most. As the situation unfolds, MarineNews asked David Barousse, general manager at Fleet Operators, Inc., a marine transportation firm in Morgan City, La., for his take on today’s predicament and what the future holds.

The U.S. Department of the Interior sold leases on oil and gas properties in the Gulf of Mexico today, receiving $538.7 million in high bids. The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Ocean Management (BOEM) took bids for 169 tracts on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf off Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, the Bureau announced in a press release. 42 offshore energy companies submitted a total of 195 bids totaling $583 million, meaning most of the tracts had just one bidder.

As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today announced that it will hold Gulf of Mexico Central Planning Area (CPA) oil and gas lease sale 231 in New Orleans on March 19, 2014. The sale is the second CPA lease sale and the fourth overall sale under the 2012 – 2017 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Natural Gas Leasing Program. The auction will offer 39 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, include all available unleased areas in the CPA.

Two members of the Gulf Economic Survival Team testified at a U.S. House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy & Mineral Resources Oversight hearing. Two members of the Gulf Economic Survival Team – Chett Chiasson, Executive Director of the Greater Lafourche Port Commission and Cory Kief, Director of Business Development for Crosby Tugs – testified on behalf of the offshore industry.The hearing examined the economic importance and energy contribution of the industry, as well as the need to support industry growth through appropriate policies, including robust lease sales. Port Fourchon director Chiasson testified about the importance…

NOIA and IADC see broad, far reaching negative Impacts from EPA suspension of BP from US Government offshore contracts. The national trade associations, the National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) and International Association of Drilling Contractors (IADC) consider that banning BP from bidding in future offshore lease sales could have a hugely negative ripple effect on drilling contractors and the rest of the offshore industry as well as the Gulf region, and even the Federal government. The offshore oil and gas industry, which is based almost entirely in the Gulf of Mexico, supported over 200,000 American jobs in 2010 and contributed nearly $80 billion in revenues to the Federal government from 2001-2010.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau announced that BOEM will offer 38 million acres in the Central Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas exploration and development. Thesale will build on two major Gulf of Mexico lease sales in the last year – a 21 million acre sale held last December and a 39 million acre sale held in June. Proposed Lease Sale 227, scheduled to take place in New Orleans on March 20, 2013, will offer all unleased areas in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area, offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama and could lead to the production of up to nearly a billion barrels of oil and nearly 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

New Orleans -- Today the Obama Administration provided final details for the Central Gulf of Mexico lease sale announced by President Obama in January 2012, as part of his administration’s ongoing focus on expanding safe and responsible production of our domestic energy sources. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau today announced the Final Notice of Sale for a June 20, 2012 lease sale that will make available all unleased areas in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area, offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, including 7,276 blocks on about 38.6 million acres. The sale will take place at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans.

Growing In Deepwater Gulf of Mexico. As the feds issue more drilling permits for the Gulf, demand for offshore support vessels in the GOM deepwater sector has accelerated, industry members say. Anger about the government's spill-related, drilling moratorium--which ended a year and a half ago--has given way to optimism recently. The region's shallow-water sector, nevertheless remains slow and gives little cause for cheer. Paul Candies, president and chief executive of Otto Candies…

Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will open Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 218 in New Orleans today at 9 a.m. CST at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome with brief remarks. The sale, held by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), has attracted 241 bids submitted by 20 companies on 191 tracts offshore Texas, compared to 189 bids submitted by 27 companies on 162 tracts during the previous Western Gulf Lease sale in August 2009. Blocks are located in federal waters from nine to more than 250 miles offshore, in water depths of about 16 feet (five meters) to more than 10,975 feet (3,346 meters). BOEM estimates that this sale could result in production of approximately 222 to 423 million barrels of oil and 1.49 to 2.65 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the next federal oil and gas lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico will occur in New Orleans on August 18, 2010. The Secretary made the Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 215 announcement during a tour of Superior Energy Services. The available blocks in Sale 215 are located from 9 to about 250 miles offshore in water depths of 16 to more than 10,975 feet (5 to 3,346 meters). The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) estimates the proposed lease sale could result in the production of 242 to 423 million barrels of oil and 1.64 to 2.64 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Central Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 213, held on March 17 in New Orleans, attracted $949,265,959 in high bids. The sale was conducted by Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) and had 77 companies submitting 642 bids on 468 tracts comprising over 2.4 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The sum of all bids received totaled $ 1,300,075,693. “The bidding activity at today’s sale speaks to the future of deepwater Gulf in providing vital energy production for the nation,” said Lars Herbst, MMS Gulf of Mexico regional director. A total of 151 tracts in water depths less than 656 feet received bids. This represents 32 percent of all tracts receiving bids, an increase of five percent from last year’s Central Gulf lease sale.

The Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) is issuing the final notice for a Federal oil and gas lease sale in the Central Gulf of Mexico (CGOM). Lease Sale 213 will be held March 17, 2010, in the St. Charles Club Room, at the Louisiana Superdome in downtown New Orleans. The Final Notice of Sale (FNOS) will be published in the Federal Register on February 12, 2010. Sale 213 encompasses 6,958 unleased blocks covering more than 36.9 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Approximately 4.1 million unleased acres in the 181 South Area are included in this sale, with Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas sharing in revenues from tracts leased in that area.

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced the Department will hold an oil and natural gas lease sale for the Central Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf that will offer nearly 36 million acres and could produce up to 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 5.4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. “As we build a comprehensive energy strategy for our nation, we are moving ahead both with environmentally-responsible renewable energy development on public lands and appropriate oil and natural gas exploration and development onshore and offshore,” said Secretary Salazar. Interior’s Minerals Management Service has proposed that oil and gas Lease Sale 213 for the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area be held March 17, 2010.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) plans to hold the next federal offshore oil and gas lease sale for the Gulf of Mexico on August 19, 2009 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in downtown New Orleans. The Final Notice of Sale (FNOS) for Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 210 will be published in the Federal Register July 17th. Sale 210 encompasses about 3,400 unleased blocks covering approximately 18 million acres in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning Area offshore Texas. The blocks are located from 9 to about 250 miles offshore in water depths of 16 to more than 10,978 feet (4 to 3,346 meters). MMS estimates the proposed lease sale could result in the production of 242 to 423 million barrels of oil and 1.64 to 2.64 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced that the Western Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 207, held in New Orleans, attracted $487,297,676 in high bids. The sale was conducted by Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) and had 53 companies submitting 423 bids on 319 tracts comprising over 1.8 million acres offshore Texas. The sum of all bids received totaled $607,134,968. “In the midst of the national discussion about energy production, the activity at today’s sale signals that the offshore oil and gas industry is serious about developing our Nation’s resources,” said Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. Approximately 17 percent of the tracts receiving bids are in ultra-deep water (more than 1,600 meters).

Harvey Gulf International Marine, Inc., has completed the leasing of property in the Port of Fourchon for the support of operations in the deep waters and the shelf of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Harvey Gulf plans to upgrade the existing property to support their fleet of offshore towing, supply and diving vessels with Dynamic Positioning Capability. This property will also be capable of supporting other operators in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. These conversions will be completed by November 2006, and will enhance the company’s position as the industry leader.

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) is beginning a three-year planning process for conducting a Federal natural gas and oil lease sale in Federal waters in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Area. The first step in this process is the Call for Interest and Information (Call) and the Notice of Intent (NOI) to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for proposed Lease Sale 181, 15 miles offshore Alabama and 100 or more miles offshore Florida. Sale 181, tentatively scheduled for December 2001, is an area identified as available for leasing in the 1997-2002 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Oil and Gas five-year Leasing Program.

Preliminary results of the latest government sale of offshore oil and natural gas exploration acreage leases in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico show a decline in oil company interest in the properties, officials from the U.S. Mineral Management Service (MMS) said on Tuesday. The latest sale, the Western Gulf Lease Sale 174, received 177 bids from 37 companies on a total of 153 acreage tracts. Bids in the previous sale, held in March, resulted in 272 bids from 67 companies for 207 tracts. The sales are held twice annually, the first for acreage in the central Gulf and the second in the west for acreage offshore Texas and Louisiana. Gulf of Mexico…

Oklahoma-based Kerr-McGee Corp emerged as the biggest spender in a Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas lease sale that raised half a billion dollars, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service. Central Gulf lease sale 178 for exploration blocks off the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama raised a total of $505.5 million, up from $300.6 million at the previous lease sale for the Central Gulf in March 2000. Kerr-McGee accounted for more than 10 percent of the total amount raised at the sale in New Orleans, submitting 32 of the high bids with a combined value of $55.9 million. Oil and gas companies, enjoying increased cash flows as a result of strong energy prices, submitted 780 bids on 547 blocks, up from 469 bids on 344 blocks in last year’s sale.

In addition to the annual Central Gulf lease sales, the Minerals Management Service, part of the U.S. Interior Department, also holds an annual lease sale in the Western Gulf. Lease sales in the Central Gulf typically attract more bids than those in the Western Gulf because the region is richer in oil and gas and more discoveries have been made there. Shallow water drew most attention in the latest Central Gulf lease sale, with bids received on 338 blocks in depths up to 656 ft.. High bids totaled $167.5 million. Bids were received on 157 blocks in depths of over 2,624 ft., with high bids totaling $274.2 million. Companies also bid on 52 blocks in intermediate depths, with high bids amounting to $63.7. million. — (Reuters)

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has announced the Final Notice of Lease Sale 198 for offshore oil and gas in the Central Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The lease sale is scheduled for March 15, 2006, in New Orleans. The lease sale encompasses 4,040 unleased blocks of approximately 21.3 million acres in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Planning Area offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The blocks are located from three to about 210 miles offshore in water depths of four to more than 3,400 meters. MMS estimates the lease sale could result in the production of between 276 to 654 million barrels of oil and 1.59 to 3.30 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.