Page 32: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2006)
The Offshore Industry Annual
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32 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News
GOM Lease Sales
Up 38 Percent
Near record oil and gas prices led to robust bidding in an offshore federal lease sale recently. The Central Gulf of
Mexico Lease Sale 198, garnered $588,309,791 in high bids from 82 com- panies for oil and natural gas leases in the Federal waters of the Gulf of
Mexico. The total of all bids was $978,310,887. This represents a 38 per- cent increase over last years Central
Gulf Sale. The sale was held in New
Orleans and conducted by the Minerals
Management Service. In Sale 198 the agency received 707 bids on 405 tracts.
Johnnie Burton, Director of the Minerals
Management Service, spoke briefly at the sale. "The Department is committed to working with all interested parties to enhance energy development in an envi- ronmentally responsible manner in available areas of the Gulf," she said. In this sale, 4040 blocks comprising approximately 21.3 million acres off- shore Alabama, Louisiana, and
Mississippi were offered.
While interest in deep water produc- tion continues, the large number of tracts receiving bids in shallow water is of particular note, indicating industry interest in deep gas in shallow waters, as well as deep water oil and gas produc- tion. Amerada Hess Corporation submit- ted the highest bid on Green Canyon
Block 287 for $42,789,994. Newfield
Exploration Company and Anadarko
Petroleum Corporation submitted the second highest bid on Green Canyon
Block 551 for $33,989,760. Each of the high bids on a block will go through an evaluation process to ensure the public receives fair market value before a lease is awarded.
Top 5 Companies by Number of High Bids:
Company Total High Bids Sum of High Bids
BP Exploration & Production Inc. 73 $22,276,118
BHP Billiton Petroleum Inc. 26 $7,661,284
Hunt Oil Company 23 $10,943,280
Dominion Exploration & 16 $41,417,099
Production Inc.
Hydro Gulf of Mexico, L.L.C. 14 $20,117, 740
Top 5 Companies by Amount of High Bids:
Company Total High Bids Sum of High Bids
Amerada Hess Corporation 13 $62,593,922
Woodside Energy (USA) Inc. 12 $47,162,990
Dominion Exploration & 16 $41,417,099
Production Inc.
Newfield Exploration Company 6 $32, 208,909
Samson Offshore Company 10 $27,109,326 1 # ) A D H E R E S T O 1 ! 1 # A N D S A F E T Y P O L I C I E S A N D P R O C E D U R E S T O P R O V I D E T O T A L Q U A L I T Y P R O D U C T S A N D S E R V I C E S 1 # ) C O M P L I E S W I T H . A T I O N A L A N D ) N T E R N A T I O N A L - A R I T I M E 2 E G U L A T I O N S ) N C L U D I N G 5 , ) % % % . / 2 3 / + 5 3 # ' ! 3 - % ! " 3 $ . 6 3 / , ! 3 ! C C O M M O D A T I O N S % L E C T R I C A L % L E C T R O N I C S ( 6 ! # 3 E R V I C E S 4 H E 3 I N G L E 3 O U R C E 0 R O V I D E R F O R - A R I N E 3 E R V I C E S s 7 A L L S # E I L I N G S &