USD$1.7 billion in high bids out of a total USD$2.6 billion for all bids was drawn for the Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale. 593 bids on 454 tracts covering 2.4 million acres of the 39 million acres total offered were bid on by 56 operators.
Statoil Gulf of Mexico LLC placed the highest bid on a tract; USD$157,111,000 for Mississippi Canyon block 718. Shell submitted USD$406,594,560 on 24 tracts, the highest total amount in bonus bids.
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said that the lease sale terms for the bid have escalating rental rates and shorter duration for those in shallow water to “encourage faster exploration and development”.
The list of tract winners is expected to be finalized by BOEM in approximately three months. 193 blocks that received bids were in depths less than 200m (656ft), 146 bids were received for water depths exceeding 1,600m (5,250ft), 75 bids were for blocks in 800m to 1,600m (2,625ft to 5,250ft) and the tract in the deepest water to attract a bid was at 3,062m (10,046ft).
Based on the number high bids, the top companies were Shell Offshore Inc. with 24 high bids, Statoil Gulf of Mexico LLC with 26 high bids, BP Exploration & Production Inc. with 43 high bids, Chevron USA Inc. with 29 bids, Exxon Mobil Corp. with 22 high bids, Apache Deepwater LLC with 29, LLOG Exploration Offshore LLC with 8, Stone Energy Offshore LLC with 26, Noble Energy Inc. with 6 and ConocoPhillips with 24 high bids. The single highest bids were Statoil Gulf of Mexico LLC with USD$157,111,000 for Mississippi Canyon 718, BP Exploration & Production with USD$110,364,812 for Keathley Canyon 745 and Shell Offshore Inc. with USD$66,061,315 for Mississippi Canyon 768.