Notice of Availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement on the Proposed Use of Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading Systems on the Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf, Western and Central Planning Areas

U.S. Department of the Interior
Minerals Management Service
Gulf of Mexico OCS Region

FOR RELEASE:	July 12, 2001

MMS Issues Proposed Notice of Sale for Eastern Gulf of Mexico Sale 181

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service issued today a proposed Notice of Sale for Sale 181 in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, outlining the terms and conditions of the lease sale. The sale, the 11^th sale on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico, is tentatively scheduled for December 5, 2001, in New Orleans, Louisiana. The notice of availability of the proposal is published in today's Federal Register.

The sale area encompasses 256 blocks in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf planning area and covers about 1.47 million acres. At present, 23 blocks in this area are under lease. Blocks in this sale are located from 100 miles offshore from the Alabama-Florida state line and over 285 miles from Tampa, Florida. Estimates of undiscovered economically recoverable hydrocarbons in this proposal are 1.25 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 185 million barrels of oil.

The 60-day comment period on the Proposed Notice of Sale begins July 13. In accordance with the Coastal Zone Management Act, the MMS will be sending consistency determinations, documenting the proposed Sale’s consistency with State coastal zone management programs, to each of the four affected States. The States will have up to 75 days to comment on the consistency determinations. The final Notice of Sale is expected to be published in October 2001.

The complete package of information related to this proposed notice is available from the MMS website at http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/lsesale/181/egom181.html. In addition, copies of all documents are available from MMS's Gulf of Mexico Regional Office, Public Information Unit, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70123. The toll-free number is 1-800-200-GULF.

Statistical Information (Sale 181)

Size: 256 blocks; 1.47 million acres

The following terms and conditions apply to each block offered in this sale:

Primary Lease Terms: 10 Years

Minimum Bids: $37.50 per acre or fraction thereof

Annual Rental Rates: $7.50 per acre or fraction thereof

Royalty Rates: 12 1/2% Royalty

Royalty Suspension: 12 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE)

MMS is the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation's oil, natural gas and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf in federal offshore waters. The agency also collects, accounts for and disburses mineral revenues from federal and Indian leases. These collections totaled nearly $8 billion last year and more than $110 billion since the agency was created in 1982. Annually, nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the acquisition and development of state and Federal park and recreation lands.

-MMS-GOM-
MMS's Website Address: http://www.mms.gov