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This page last updated:
February 15, 2006
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Atlantic OCS Lease
Status Information
Overview
The Atlantic OCS area is divided into four planning areas along the Atlantic
seaboard: the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, and the Straits of
Florida. A total of 433 blocks were leased in
the 10 lease sales that occurred in the Atlantic OCS area and 49 exploratory
wells and 5 Continental Offshore Strategic Test (COST) wells were drilled.
At present, there are no remaining oil and gas
leases in the Atlantic area.
The North Atlantic Planning Area lies offshore the northeast part of the U.S.
and extends from Maine to New Jersey. The area
encompasses approximately 92.4 million acres of seafloor on the Federal OCS.
Eight exploratory wells and two COST wells were
drilled in this planning area. There are no
active leases in this area.
The Mid-Atlantic Planning Area lies offshore the middle Atlantic States and
extends from Delaware to North Carolina.
The area encompasses approximately 113.125
million acres. The Mid-Atlantic has had the most
lease sales (5), the largest number of leases awarded (238), and the most wells
drilled (32 exploratory, 2 COST). There are no
active leases in this area.
The South Atlantic Planning Area lies offshore the southern Atlantic States
and extends from South Carolina to Florida.
The area encompasses approximately 54.12 million
acres. Of the 109 blocks leased, none remains
active. Six exploratory wells and one COST well
were drilled in this planning area. There are no
active leases in this area.
The Straits of Florida Planning Area lies offshore Florida and encompasses
approximately 9.64 million acres. The only lease
sale held in this area, Sale #5, was held in 1959. Of
the 80 tracts offered, 23 were leased, each receiving one bid each.
This resulted in $1.7 million received in total
bonus high bids. In 1960, three exploratory
wells were drilled in the vicinity of the Dry
Tortugas. There are no active leases in this
area.
|
Active Leases by Planning Area |
| Planning Area |
Active Leases |
Active Acreage |
| Total |
0 |
0 |
|
Lease Sale History of the Atlantic
OCS |
| Lease Sale No. |
Sale date |
Tracts offered |
Acres offered1 |
No. of bids rec'd |
Tracts leased |
Total Acres leased*/** |
Total $ bonus leased
tracts2 |
Average $
bonus per
acre 2,3 |
Existing leases* |
Exploratory wells drilled# |
| North Atlantic |
| 42 |
12/18/79 |
116 |
660,409 |
189 |
63 |
358,671 |
816,516,546 |
$2,227 |
0 |
8 |
| |
Subtotal |
116 |
660,409 |
189 |
63 |
358,671 |
816,516,546 |
$2,227 |
0 |
8 |
| Mid-Atlantic |
| 40 |
08/17/76 |
154 |
876,750 |
410 |
93 |
529,466 |
1,127,936,425 |
$2,130 |
0 |
27 |
| 49 |
02/28/79 |
109 |
620,557 |
74 |
39 |
222,034 |
40,001,631 |
$180 |
0 |
1 |
56*
formerly South Atlantic |
08/04/81 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
0 |
0 |
| 59 |
12/08/81 |
253 |
1,440,376 |
240 |
51 |
290,352 |
323,659,000 |
$1,115 |
0 |
4 |
| RS-2 |
08/05/82 |
155 |
882,444 |
19 |
18 |
102,477 |
3,920,828 |
$38 |
0 |
0 |
| 76 |
04/26/83 |
4,050 |
22,664,991 |
53 |
37 |
210,641 |
68,410,240 |
$325 |
0 |
0 |
78*
formerly South Atlantic |
07/26/83 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
0* |
0 |
| |
Subtotal |
4,721 |
26,485,118 |
796 |
238 |
1,354,970 |
1,563,928,124 |
$3,788 |
0 |
32 |
| South Atlantic |
| 43 |
03/28/78 |
224 |
1,275,273 |
99 |
43 |
244,807 |
100,743,443 |
$412 |
0 |
6 |
| RS-2* |
08/05/82 |
232 |
1,320,819 |
9 |
8 |
45,545 |
2,859,150 |
$63 |
0 |
0 |
| 78* |
07/26/83 |
3,582 |
20,156,426 |
12 |
11 |
62,625 |
13,362,040 |
$213 |
0* |
0 |
| |
Subtotal |
4,323 |
24,374,419 |
240 |
109 |
620,557 |
459,730,807 |
$1,969 |
0* |
6 |
| Straits of Florida** |
| 5 |
05/26/59 |
80 |
458,000 |
23 |
23 |
132,480 |
1,711,872 |
$13 |
0 |
3 |
| |
Subtotal |
80 |
458,000 |
23 |
23 |
132,480 |
1,711,872 |
$13 |
0 |
3 |
| Total All Sales |
|
9,240 |
51,977,946 |
1,248 |
433 |
2,466,678 |
2,841,887,349 |
$1,152 |
0 |
49# |
|
1 |
Amounts are rounded to
nearest acre. |
|
2 |
Amounts are rounded to
nearest dollar. |
|
3 |
Sum of the total bonus for
all sales divided by the total acreage of all blocks leased. |
|
* |
On March 19,1982, the
boundary between the Mid- and South Atlantic Planning Area changed
from lat. 36 deg. 30 min. N. to lat. 35 deg. 00 min. N., resulting in
34 leases being shifted from the South to the Mid-Atlantic Planning
Area and affecting previous data for OCS Lease Sales #56 and #78.
For administrative purposes, lease sale information is not adjusted other
than to show active leases and acreage amounts. |
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** |
The Straits of Florida was transferred to the Atlantic OCS Planning Area
in 1985. At the time of Lease Sale #5 in 1959, the Straits of Florida was
administratively considered part of the Gulf of Mexico OCS Region.
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# |
Five COST wells were drilled in addition to the 49 exploratory wells
listed above; four COST wells were drilled in the North and
Mid-Atlantic lease areas (two in each area) and one COST well was
drilled in the South Atlantic lease area. |
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