MMS Issues Final Notice of Sale

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) has published the Final Notice of Sale for Western Gulf of Mexico (GOM) Sale 174. The sale will be held August 25, 1999, at the Hyatt Regency Conference Center (Cabildo Rooms), 500 Poydras Plaza, New Orleans. This is the fourth sale in the Western GOM, and the eight sale overall, in which blocks receiving bids in water depths of 656 ft. or more are eligible for consideration under provisions of the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act. The Final Notice of Sale offers all blocks in water depths of less than 2,625 ft. for a minimum bid of $25.00 per acre. The minimum bid on blocks in water depths of 2,625 ft. or deeper has been changed to $37.50 per acre. The final Notice of Sale covers 3,651 available blocks encompassing about 19.86 million acres, in the Western GOM Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Planning Area offshore Texas and in deeper waters offshore Louisiana. Blocks in this sale are located from 9 to 200 miles offshore in water depths ranging from 26.3 ft. to more than 9,840 ft. There are 2,122 blocks in water depths greater than 656 ft.. Sale 174 will be the 39th OCS lease sale involving the Western Gulf. Copies of the final Notice of Sale are available from the Gulf Region's Public Information Office, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, 70123-2394; tel: 504-736-2519.