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.
Terms and conditions for Sale 210 are fully outlined in the FNOS information package. In the FNOS, potential bidders are advised that the decision to hold Sale 210 will be subject to further proceedings in the court case, Center for Biological Diversity v. Department of the Interior, Nos. 07-1247, 07-1344.
The FNOS and FNOS information packages are posted on the MMS Website: www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/lsesale/210/wgom210.html