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This page last updated:
March 16, 2000
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Central Gulf of
Mexico Lease Sale 157
- Sale 157, the Federal outer continental shelf (OCS) natural gas and oil lease sale in
the Central Gulf of Mexico, held on April 24, 1996, attracted high bids of $521 million.
- The Minerals Management Service offered 5,649 blocks for lease comprising approximately
30,322,792 acres offshore Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Seventy-eight (78)
companies submitted a record 1,381 bids on 924 blocks.
- This first sale of 1996 topped the previous record for number of bids set in 1971 by 32
percent.
- Twenty-nine (29) percent of the bids were on blocks in greater than 800 meters of water.
- The highest bid on a block goes through an evaluation process to ensure that taxpayers
receive fair market value before a lease is awarded. Each block is approximately 9 square
miles.
- Vastar Resources Inc. submitted the highest bid of $11.2 million for Mississippi Canyon
Block 941. South Marsh Island Area, North Addition Block 261 received the highest number
of bids — 10. Texaco had the largest number of winning bids (127) followed by Zilkha
Energy which won 115 bids.
- The deepest block to receive a bid was Walker Ridge 811 at a depth of 9,090 ft (2,771 m)
and 201 mi (322 km) offshore Louisiana. BP Exploration and Oil Inc. bid $271,800 for this
tract.
- The OCS currently supplies 24 percent of America's natural gas and 14 percent of its oil
production.
- This lease sale continues a 2-year trend of renewed industry interest in Gulf of Mexico
leasing sparked by increased use of 3D seismic technology, and improvements in drilling
technology which have resulted in several subsalt and deepwater success stories. These
improvements in drilling technology have made the region, in some cases, a proving ground
for offshore technology.
Summary of preliminary data for Lease Sale 157:
Sale Day Highlights
| 1 |
Sum of High Bids |
$520,942,644 |
|
Sum of All Bids |
$716,059,864 |
| 2 |
Blocks Offerred |
5,649 |
|
Acres Offerred |
30,322,792.332 |
| 3 |
Blocks Receiving Bids |
924 |
|
Acres Reveiving Bids |
4,761,166.89 |
| 4 |
Total Number of Bids |
1,381 |
|
Average Number of Bids |
1.5 |
| 5 |
Greatest Number of Bids Per Block |
10 |
|
Map Area and Block Number |
South Marsh Island Area, North Addition 261 |
| 6 |
Highest Bid on a Block |
$11,151,000 |
|
Map Area and Block Number |
Mississippi Canyon 941 |
|
Number of Bids for Block |
5 |
|
High Bidder |
Vastar Resources, Inc. |
| 7 |
Highest Bid per Acre |
$4,560.26 |
|
Map Area and Block Number with the Highest Bid per Acre |
Green Canyon 658 |
|
Number of Bids for Block |
1 |
|
Bidder |
BP Exploration & Oil Inc. |
| 8 |
Total Number of Compnies Participating |
93 |
| 9 |
Deepest Block Receiving a Bid (Map Area and Block Number) |
Walker Ridge 811 |
|
Water Depth |
9,090 feet |
|
Distance from Shore |
201 miles from Louisiana |
|
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Data categories
Bidding Statistics by Water Depth
| Water Depth |
Blocks with Bids |
Acres Receiving Bids |
Sum of High Bids |
Sum of All Bids |
| 0 to 200 meters |
453 |
2,095,751.99 |
$262,296,276 |
$383,484,713 |
| 200 to 400 meters |
29 |
138,644,.81 |
$27,664,430 |
$31,998,759 |
| 400 to 800 meters |
41 |
236,160.00 |
$29,246,093 |
$36,162,227 |
| >800 meters |
401 |
2,290,610.09 |
$201,735,845 |
$264,414,165 |
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|
|
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Data categories
Blocks Receiving Bids by Number of Bids per Block
by Water Depth
| Number of Bids |
Total |
<200 meters |
200 to 400 meters |
400 to 800 meters |
> 800 meters |
| 1 |
647 |
285 |
22 |
29 |
311 |
| 2 |
174 |
107 |
5 |
8 |
54 |
| 3 |
64 |
37 |
2 |
3 |
22 |
| 4 |
18 |
12 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
| 5 |
13 |
6 |
0 |
1 |
6 |
| 6 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
| 7 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 8 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 9 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
| 10 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Data categories
Bidding Statistics by Lease Term
| Lease Term (years) |
Block with Bids |
Acres Reveiving Bids |
Sum of High Bids |
Sum of All Bids |
| 5 |
482 |
2,234,369.80 |
$289,960,706 |
$415,483,472 |
| 8 |
56 |
322,560.00 |
$37,671,795 |
$48,932,848 |
| 10 |
386 |
2,204,210.09 |
$193,310,143 |
$251,643,544 |
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|
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Data categories
Bidding Statistics by Royalty Rate
| Royalty Rate |
Blocks with Bids |
Acres Receiving Bids |
Sum of High Bids |
Sum of All Bids |
| 16 2/3% |
482 |
2,234,396.80 |
$289,960,706 |
$415,483.472 |
| 12 1/2% |
442 |
2,526,770.09 |
$230,981,938 |
$300,576,392 |
|
|
|
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Data categories
Blocks with Section 8(g) Acreage
| Number of Blocks Offerred |
160 |
| Number of Acres Offerred |
478,272.91 |
| Number of Blocks Receiving Bids |
41 |
| Number of Bids on 8(g) Blocks |
79 |
| Total Block Acreage |
152,673.65 |
| Total 8(g) Acreage |
87,160.290 |
| Sum of High Bids on 8(g) Blocks |
$25,539,807 |
| Sum of All Bids on 8(g) Blocks |
$35,979,213 |
Note: In accordance with Section 8(g) of the OCSLA Amendments of 1978,
coastal States must receive some revenue from the leasing and development of offshore
areas which contain oil and gas fields that straddle Federal and State jurisdictional
boundaries. Congress resolved in the OCSLA Amendments of 1985, Public Law 99–72 to
provide for recurring annual disbursements of 27 percent of royalty, rent, and bonus
revenues from Section 8(g) leases.
Data categories
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