MMS Opens Central GOM Lease Sale 213
The Director of Minerals Management Service, Liz Birnbaum, will participate in the Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 213 in New Orleans on March 17. She will open the Federal oil and gas lease sale at 9 a.m. CDT at the Louisiana Superdome with brief remarks. Following the bid reading, she will hold a media availability to discuss the results of the sale. The sale, held by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS), 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.
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," said MMS Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Chris Oynes. "It is reflective of the large inventory of tracts already under lease. MMS officials said 86 tracts receiving bids are in water depths of 656 ft. or more. The highest bid on a tract was $11.3 million, submitted by Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corporation for NG15-02 Garden Banks 877.
