The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management plans a Mar. 20, 2013, lease sale to offer 38 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
Lease Sale 227, scheduled for New Orleans, will offer all unleased areas in the central Gulf of Mexico planning area.
This would be the second sale under the new Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas leasing program for 2012-17 and the first of five annual central gulf lease sales.
Sale 227 encompasses 7,250 blocks that are 3-230 miles offshore in 9-11,115 ft of water. BOEM has posted online the proposed terms and conditions for the latest sale.
BOEM Director Tommy P. Beaudreau said the sale will build on successful lease sales within the last 12 months.
Lease Sale 218, covering tracts in the western gulf and held in December 2011, made 21 million acres available. The sale received high bids on tracts covering 1 million acres and netted $325 million.
Lease Sale 216/222, held in June and covering 39 million acres in the central gulf, attracted more than $1.7 billion in high bids for more than 2.4 million acres.
The next sale, Lease Sale 229, covers the western gulf and is slated for Nov. 28 in New Orleans.
