by Department of Interior Staff
After being forced to sit out the last three drilling right auctions in the Gulf of Mexico because of suspension, BP retuned to the high-stakes game demonstrating enthusiasm for offshore development in the Gulf by winning 24 of its 32 bids for leases in the Central Gulf that included territory near their failed Macondo Well.
As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Secretary of the Department of Interior Sally Jewell announced oil and gas lease sales for federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico garnered $872,143,771 million in high bids on 329 tracts covering 1,707,358 acres.
Secretary of the Department of Interior Sally Jewell announced oil and gas lease sales for federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico. Photo: DOI
“These lease sales underscore the President’s commitment to create jobs and home-grown energy through the safe and responsible exploration and development of our offshore energy resources,” Jewell said. “The Gulf is a critical component of our nation’s energy portfolio and holds vital energy resources that spur economic opportunities for Gulf producing states as well as further reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”
The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) offered nearly 40 million acres covering tracts in the Central and Eastern planning areas of the Gulf of Mexico, and opened bids from previously offered acreage in the Western planning area.
“While domestic energy production is growing rapidly in the United States, the Central Gulf of Mexico, as demonstrated by today’s lease sale, will continue to be one of the cornerstones of the nation’s energy portfolio,” said agency director Tommy P. Beaudreau. “The Gulf of Mexico is one of the most productive basins in the world, and the Obama Administration supports the development of our nation’s offshore oil and gas resources in the Gulf of Mexico while protecting the human, marine and coastal environments, and ensuring a fair return to the American people.”
Lease Sale 231 for the Central Planning Area attracted $850,809,921 in high bids on 326 blocks covering 1.7 million acres on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. A total of 50 offshore energy companies participated in submitting 380 bids.
Other big winners in the Gulf oil lease auction held at the New Orleans Superdome included; Freeport-MacMoRan, Chevron, Shell, Murphy Exploration and Production and Cobalt International Energy.
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