The US Department of the Interior said Aug. 12 that the Marine Minerals Administration’s (MMA) Lease Sale Big Beautiful Gulf 3 (BBG3) generated about $82.7 million in high bids for 59 blocks in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Sixteen companies submitted 69 bids totaling over $99 million, with Chevron USA Inc., Arena Energy LLC, and Anadarko US Offshore LLC emerging as the sale’s top winners.

While BBG3’s preliminary sales revenues were about 76% higher than Lease Sale BBG2’s $47 million in March, they were 72% below BBG1’s $300 million in December 2025, held after a 2-year leasing pause.

Chevron and Anadarko, securing 13 and 8 winning bids, respectively, focused strategies on mostly competitive, deepwater blocks. In contrast, Arena’s 10-winning-bid approach involved entirely uncontested shallow-water leases, mainly in Eugene Island (5 blocks) and Matagorda Island (3 blocks).

Chevron won 4 blocks in Green Canyon, 4 in Keathley Canyon, 3 in East Breaks, and 2 in Mississippi Canyon. Anadarko prevailed in Keathley Canyon (4 blocks), Mississippi Canyon (2 blocks), and Green Canyon and Walker Ridge (1 winning bid each).

Green Canyon received the most total bids, with a combined total of 13 bids placed across 12 different lease blocks. Keathley Canyon followed with 10 total bids across 5 blocks due to multi-bid competition on individual tracts.

While most blocks offered attracted a single bid, Keathley Canyon Blocks 258 and 430 received the most competition, with 4 bids and 3 bids, respectively. Anadarko won both blocks, outbidding BP, Chevron, and Shell for Keathley Canyon 258 and Chevron and Shell for Block 430.

MMA offered about 15,100 unleased blocks covering 80.4 million acres across the Western, Central, and portions of the Eastern Gulf Planning Areas. The blocks lie 3-231 miles offshore in water depths of 9-11,100 ft. The lease terms include a 12.5% royalty rate for blocks in all water depths.

National Ocean Industries Association president Erik Milito said the sale represents certainty for the offshore oil and gas industry. "Offshore energy is a long-term business," Milito said. "The energy Americans rely on depends on the leasing and investment decisions we make today."

Holly Hopkins, American Petroleum Institute vice-president of upstream policy, said the sale represented "another vote of confidence" in American energy. "At a time of global energy disruption, our industry is continuing to invest in the future supply [that] America and our allies will depend on for decades to come."