The US Minerals Management Service said Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 175, held in March, netted $292,771,205 in high bids. After evaluating all high bids in a 3-month process, the MMS rejected 10 high bids, totaling $7,796,470, as insufficient for fair market value.
Sale 175 drew 469 bids from 63 companies on 344 tracts on the shelf and in deep water off Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama (OGJ, Mar. 20, 2000, p. 34). Two of the rejected bids were for blocks on the shelf, and eight were for deepwater blocks.
In Lease Sale 175, the 63 companies bidding on 1,764,389 acres exposed $454,929,870. The total of apparent high bids was $300,567,675. This total was made up of several markedly higher bids and many that were only the minimum or slightly higher, according to commentary at the sale.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp. submitted the most high bids, with 32. Vastar Resources Inc., now majority owned by BP Amoco PLC, submitted 27; Chevron USA Inc., 23; Spinnaker Exploration Co. LLC, 21; EEX Corp., 21; Kerr-McGee Oil & Gas Corp., 18; Samedan Oil Corp., 15; CNG Producing Co., 14; Murphy Exploration & Production Co., 14; and Marathon Oil Co., 12.
The next sale, Western Gulf Lease Sale 177, will be held Aug. 23, 2000, at the Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon Street, New Orleans, La.