The NewsRoom
Release: #3790
Date: February 29, 2008
Central Gulf of Mexico Sale 205 Nets
$ 2,829,926,881 in High Bids
Summary of Results
NEW ORLEANS
The Minerals
Management Service (MMS) has accepted high bids valued at $2,829,926,881 and awarded 683 leases to the successful high bidders
who participated in Central Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale
205. Funds from the total high bids will be distributed to the
general fund of the U. S. Treasury, shared with the affected States,
and set aside for special uses that benefit all fifty states.
The leases were awarded
following the completion of an extensive, two-phase bid evaluation
process to ensure that the Federal government receives a fair monetary
return for the public mineral resources it makes available.
Eighty-four companies
submitted 1,428 bids on 723 tracts in the sale, held October 3, 2007.
The total for high bids submitted on all tracts was $2,904,321,011.
Using the bid evaluation process, MMS rejected high bids totaling
$18,509,402 on 18 tracts as insufficient for fair market value.
In addition, five companies
that had submitted a total of 22 high bids withdrew their bids,
thereby forfeiting the lease and the 1/5th bonus which was
submitted with the bid. As a result, $13,971,182 of the total
$69,855,910 bid on those 22 forfeited tracts has been collected.
The highest bid accepted on
a tract was $90,488,445 made by Shell Offshore Inc. for Walker Ridge
Block 7. This tract is in deep water (5,240 – 6,562 feet or 1,600 -
2,000 meters) and received 13 bids.
The
top five companies with the highest number of accepted high bids for
Sale 205:
Company |
Number of High Bids Accepted |
Sum of High Bids Accepted |
BP Exploration & Production Inc. |
83 |
$107,069,658 |
Shell Offshore Inc. |
67 |
$510,786,333 |
Cobalt International Energy, L.P. |
50 |
$209,422,572 |
Chevron U.S.A. Inc. |
41 |
$269,253,446 |
Nexen Petroleum Offshore U.S.A. |
28 |
$112,217,929 |
The
top five companies with the highest total bonus amount accepted for
Sale 205:
Company |
Number of High Bids
Accepted |
Sum of High Bids Accepted |
Shell Offshore Inc. |
67 |
$510,786,333 |
Chevron U.S.A. Inc. |
41 |
$269,253,446 |
Marathon Oil Company |
27 |
$221,713,595 |
Cobalt International Energy, L.P. |
50 |
$209,422,572 |
Murphy Exploration & Production Com |
26 |
$161,054,671 |
Media Contact:
Caryl Fagot
504-736-259
Eileen Angelico
504-736-2595
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for America
U.S. Department of the Interior
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Last Updated:
05/27/2008,
04:05 PM
Central Time
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