Lease Sales

Salazar Announces Western Gulf Lease Sale

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. The Secretary’s visit to New Orleans followed the Obama Administration’s recent announcement of a comprehensive strategy for strengthening the nation’s energy security and reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil.  The strategy calls for expanded development and production throughout the Gulf of Mexico, including resource-rich areas of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico that are currently under Congressional moratorium and closed to development.  “The plan we are proposing calls for four more lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico by 2012 and, in the years beyond, would open up two-thirds of the oil and gas resources in the Eastern Gulf while protecting Florida’s coast and critical military training areas,” said Salazar

BOEM Seeks Comments on Environmental Review

Public Hearings Scheduled to provide opportunities for public input.   The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has completed a draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS), providing updated environmental and socioeconomic analysis to support two proposed lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico. Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 233 is tentatively scheduled for 2013 in the Western Planning Area (WPA), offshore Texas; and Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 231 is scheduled for 2014

Interest Declining In Offshore Acreage Leases

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.

MMS Offer Exploration Rights

The Minerals Management Service will offer oil and gas exploration rights next month to 29.7 million acres in the remote Chukchi Sea off northwestern Alaska, according to a Reuters report. The decision to hold the February 6 lease sale, the first in the Chukchi since 1991, comes days before the Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether to list the polar bear as threatened and has drawn fire from environmentalists seeking to limit oil development in the area

BOEMRE Hearings: Draft EIS for Western GOM

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) will hold two public hearings in Houston, Tx. to accept oral or written comments on a draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) for proposed Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 218.   The SEIS was prepared to update the analyses done in earlier environmental impact statements and to analyze new information regarding the western Gulf of Mexico planning area.   

U.S. Invites Industry Interest in Oil and Gas Lease Sale

Washington - The Department of the Interior is seeking input from industry to determine interest in oil and gas exploration off the coast of South-Central Alaska – a key step in the planning process for a potential oil and natural gas lease sale in the Cook Inlet Planning Area. This is the latest step by the Obama Administration toward production in Alaska’s offshore areas, and builds on broader steps to increase production in Alaska.

Western Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 174 Attracts $94.6 Million in High Bids

A Federal offshore natural gas and oil lease sale in the Western Gulf of Mexico received $94.7 million in high bids. The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) received 177 bids totaling $104.2 million at the sale held in New Orleans. The 41 participating companies bid on 153 tracts in the Western Gulf of Mexico, offshore Texas and in deeper waters offshore Louisiana. "The results of the sale are about what we expected

MMS Publishes Final Regulations for Bonus Bids

The Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) published a final rule regarding the use of electronic funds transfer (EFT) by oil and natural gas companies bidding on Outer Continental Shelf federal leases. The final rule provides additional administrative flexibility to allow the agency to require EFT payment methods when appropriate. The rule will save time and money for the oil and natural gas industry and the Federal government.

Federal Lease Sale Draws Second Highest Bid Totals

The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service recent central Gulf of Mexico lease sale received 1,428 bids on 723 tracts, attracting $2.9 billion in high bids – the second highest total in U.S. leasing history. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, who officially opened the sale, said the bids made a statement concerning the future of the Gulf of Mexico. “This historic sale emphasizes the Gulf’s strategic value for America’s energy security and the significant

Gulf Lease Sale Attracts $487.2m in Bids

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