Natural Gas Exploration Acreage Leases News

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, according to the U.S. Mineral Management Service. The declining interest could be explained, at least in part, by the fact that a lot of inventory from past sales is unexplored and undeveloped, and companies are now focusing on developing those properties before acquiring more acreage, an MMS spokesman said.

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…