Mms Gulf Of Mexico News

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 offshore energy industry continues to show interest in the Gulf of Mexico’s Outer Continental Shelf, with 67 companies submitting 642 bids on 468 tracts that are being offered offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama in tomorrow’s Minerals Management Service Central Gulf Sale 213. “The industry’s interest in tomorrow’s Central Gulf oil and gas lease sale demonstrates the importance of the deepwater Gulf to future energy development” said MMS Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Lars Herbst, who presided over the lease sale in the New Orleans Superdome. A total of 295 tracts in water depths greater than 1,300 ft received bids. The sealed were opened and publicly read at the sale. The high bidder for each tract will have its bid analyzed for fair market value before the lease is awarded.

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.

A study released by the Minerals Management Service examines the circulation in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and sheds new light on the behavior of the Loop Current (LC) and Loop Current Eddies (LCEs), the relation between the upper- and lower-layer currents, and the variability of water mass characteristics in deepwater. When the LC and the LCE are present in the Gulf near oil and gas activities, operators may have to curtail or amend their operations due to the strength of the current or eddy. “The observations from this study will help MMS and other scientists better understand the Loop Current and improve our forecasting of its behavior in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Dr. Alexis Lugo-Fernandez, the MMS physical oceanographer responsible for the study.

Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Lars Herbst has selected David W. Cooke, Ph.D. as the new Regional Supervisor for Resource Evaluation in the Gulf Region Office. As Regional Supervisor for Resource Evaluation, Dr. Cooke’s responsibilities will include overseeing economic evaluations for lease sales and reserve and resource assessments in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS.)   He will manage a staff of 135 geologists, petroleum engineers, geophysicists, and support staff who are responsible for data acquisition and management, economic analysis, resource studies, and environmentally sound oil and gas operations throughout the Gulf OCS Region. Dr.

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 bids are in for Western Gulf of Mexico Federal Oil and Gas Lease Sale 210 to be held August 19. The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico Region announced that 189 bids were received from 26 companies on 162 tracts offered offshore Texas. “This sale is an important part of a balanced domestic energy plan that includes development of offshore renewable energy resources as well as oil and gas,” said MMS Director Liz Birnbaum. Reading of the sealed bids will take place August 19, beginning at 9:00 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon Street, New Orleans. The sales will be Webcast through the Offshore Oil Scouts Association at www.oosa.com. Real Player will need to be installed in order to run the Webcast.

Minerals Management Service (MMS) Director Liz Birnbaum today highlighted the 20th anniversary of the MMS Gulf of Mexico Region’s Unannounced Oil Spill Drill Program. The first unannounced drill with an offshore oil and gas operator in the Gulf was held on July 25, 1989. Since the first unannounced drill, an additional 273 drills have been held in the Gulf. The MMS designs the drill to exercise an oil and gas and pipeline operator’s Oil Spill Response Plan and evaluates its spill management team’s effectiveness in responding to a simulated spill event. “While preventing oil spills is our top priority throughout the offshore energy exploration and extraction process, operators must be ready to respond to a spill event,” Birnbaum said.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has awarded a grant for $718,620 to St. James Parish in Louisiana through the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP), for the purchase of a 600-acre tract in the Coteau Chevreuil Wetlands area in South Vacherie, on the west bank of the parish. Purchase of the wetlands tract will provide protection to valuable cypress, tupelo swamp, and bottomland hardwood forest trees. South Vacherie is located approximately 35 miles west of New Orleans, and 55 miles south-southwest of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “MMS is committed to helping the state in its vital coastal restoration efforts through CIAP,” said MMS Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Lars Herbst. “We are proud to partner with St. St.

Danos & Curole has been awarded the 2008 Houma District Production Contractor SAFE Award by the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS). In addition, the company was also named as a finalist for the 2008 MMS National Production Contractor SAFE Award. Since the inception of the program in 1983, Danos & Curole was the recipient of the National SAFE Award three years and has received numerous district awards. On an individual level, Hank Danos (CEO), Michael…

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico Region, released new oil and gas daily production rate projections that encompass the year 2006. According to the new report, Daily Oil and Gas Production Rate Projections From 2002 Through 2006, Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, MMS is forecasting a daily oil production rate of between 2.00 and 2.47 million barrels by the end of 2006, and a daily gas production rate of between 10.97 and 16.39 billion cu. ft. by the end of the same year. These represent high case and low case estimates. MMS Director Johnnie Burton called the new projections "a healthy, sizeable increase in the range of possible oil production.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS), Gulf of Mexico Region, released new oil and gas daily production rate projections that encompass the year 2006. According to the new report, Daily Oil and Gas Production Rate Projections From 2002 Through 2006, Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, MMS is forecasting a daily oil production rate of between 2.00 and 2.47 million barrels by the end of 2006, and a daily gas production rate of between 10.97 and 16.39 billion cu. ft. by the end of the same year. These represent high case and low case estimates. MMS Director Johnnie Burton called the new projections "a healthy, sizeable increase in the range of possible oil production.

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) is making available the Proposed Notice of Sale for Western Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Sale 174. The sale is scheduled for August 25, 1999, in New Orleans. Sale 174 encompasses 3,642 unleased blocks, about 19.81 million acres, in the Western GOM Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area offshore Texas and in deeper waters offshore Louisiana. The blocks are located from nine to 200 miles offshore in water depths ranging from 26 ft. to more than 9,840 ft. There are 2,120 blocks in water depths of 656 ft. or more. This is the fourth sale in the Western Gulf of Mexico, and the seventh sale overall, in which blocks receiving bids in water depths of 656 ft.

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.