Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas lease sale yields $22.7 million in high bids
August 19, 2015
Penn Energy
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) today held an oil and gas lease sale for the Western Gulf of Mexico that drew $22,675,212 in high bids for tracts on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf offshore Texas.
A total of 5 offshore energy companies submitted 33 bids on 33 tracts, covering about 190,080 acres. The sum of all bids received totaled $22,675,212.
“The Gulf remains a critical component of our nation’s energy portfolio and holds important energy resources that spur economic opportunities for Gulf producing states, creating jobs and home-grown energy and reducing our dependence on foreign oil,” said BOEM Director Abigail Ross Hopper. “While this sale reflects today’s market conditions and industry’s current development strategy, it underscores a steady, continued interest in developing deep water federal offshore oil and gas resources.”
Lease Sale 246 builds on the first seven sales held under the Obama Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program) that offered more than 60 million acres for development, garnered $2.9 billion in bid revenues and awarded 1,038 leases. The Five Year Program makes available all offshore areas with the highest resource potential and includes 75 percent of the nation’s undiscovered, technically recoverable offshore oil and gas resources.
“As one the most productive basins in the world, the Gulf of Mexico continues to be the keystone of the Nation’s offshore oil and gas resources,” Hopper said. “The continuing drop in oil prices and low natural gas prices obviously affect industry’s short-term investment decisions, but the Gulf’s long-term value to the nation remains high and the President’s energy strategy continues to offer millions of offshore acres for development while protecting the human, marine and coastal environments, and ensuring a fair return to the American people.”
Lease Sale 246 offered 4,083 unleased blocks, covering about 21.9 million acres, located from nine to 250 nautical miles offshore in water depths ranging from 16 to more than 10,975 feet (5 to 3,340 meters).
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