The US region-wide Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 256 generated $121 million in high bids for 93 tracts covering 79 million acres.
The US region-wide Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 256 generated $121 million in high bids for 93 tracts covering 79 million acres. Twenty three companies participated in the lease sale, submitting $135,558,336 in total bids.
Lease Sale 256 included 14,862 unleased blocks in the Gulf’s Western, Central and Eastern Planning Areas.
Lease sale 256, livestreamed from New Orleans, was the seventh offshore sale held under the 2017-2022 National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Programme. Under this programme, 10 region-wide lease sales are scheduled for the Gulf.
Meanwhile, The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is offering 78.2 million acres for a region-wide Gulf of Mexico lease sale scheduled for March 2021. The eighth offshore sale under the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Programme will include 14,594 unleased blocks.
‘Despite circumstances imposed by the coronavirus, we are confident that industry remains interested in acquiring new leases to support their portfolios,’ said Mike Celata, director of BOEM’s Gulf of Mexico region.
Last year was a record year for American offshore oil production, at 596.9 million barrels, or 15% of domestic oil production, and $5.7 billion in direct revenues to the government, said BOEM.
