Gas prices buoy Gulf of Mexico leasing recovery

OCS Sale 143 Top 10 Tracts [129,443 bytes] Higher U. S. gas prices boosted interest in Outer Continental Shelf acreage at last week's federal lease sale for the western Gulf of Mexico. With 48 companies offering 197 bids totaling $80,134,112 for 157 tracts, Sale 143 marked the second federal Gulf of Mexico lease sale in a row to reverse 3 years of declining participation. In the Minerals Management Service's OCS Sale 141 for the western gulf in August 1992, 38 companies offered 81 bids