The
NewsRoom
Release: #3187
Date: November 5, 2004
MMS Issues Proposed Notice of Central Gulf
Lease Sale 194
The Minerals Management Service
announced today in the Federal Register the availability of the
Proposed Notice of Lease Sale 194, an offshore oil and gas lease sale
in the Central Gulf of Mexico (GOM) scheduled for March 16, 2005. The
proposed lease sale encompasses 4,043 unleased blocks covering
approximately 21.3 million acres in the Central GOM Outer Continental
Shelf (OCS) Planning Area offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and
Alabama. The blocks are located from 3 to about 210 miles offshore in
water depths of 4 to more than 3,400 meters. MMS estimates the
proposed lease sale could result in the production of 276 million -
654 million barrels of oil and 1.59 trillion - 3.30 trillion cubic
feet of natural gas.
Recently revised provisions
proposed for this lease sale include the following:
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Price thresholds when
deepwater royalty suspension would end are set at $39.00 per
barrel for oil and $6.50 per MMBTU for gas, expressed in 2004
dollars.
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MMS proposes to offer in this
lease sale Vermilion Blocks 139 and 140, subject to a new proposed
lease stipulation entitled "Limitation on Use of Seabed and Water
Column in the Vicinity of an Approved Offshore Liquefied Natural
Gas (LNG) Deepwater Port Receiving Terminal." Vermilion Blocks
139 and 140 were previously deferred in recent Central GOM Lease
Sale 190, pending completion of MMS's ongoing consultation with
the U.S. Coast Guard regarding appropriate measures to ensure
avoidance of potential conflicts between LNG port activities and
OCS oil and gas activities.
The U.S. Coast Guard and the Maritime Administration, to date,
have received six applications for the licensing of deepwater
ports involving proposed LNG facilities. These proposed
facilities would receive LNG ships, re-gasify the LNG offshore,
and transport the natural gas to onshore markets through new
pipelines that interconnect with existing pipelines.
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MMS is considering whether to
revise royalty suspension price thresholds for deepwater oil and
gas from an annual system to a monthly system for future deepwater
leases. MMS requests comments on the desirability and the
specific components of the monthly approach. Depending on the
comments received and further analysis, MMS may choose to retain
the annual system or adopt the monthly system. A decision on this
issue will be made for the Final Notice of Sale scheduled for
February 2005.
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Revised shallow-water deep-gas
royalty suspension provisions. This revision incorporates
references to recent amendments to the January 26, 2004, final
rule and to recent related Notices to Lessees and Operators.
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A minimum bonus bid amount has
been raised from $25 per acre, or fraction thereof, to $37.50 per
acre, or fraction thereof, for deep water tracts located in water
depths of 400 to less than 800 meters.
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A final rule was published on
November 26, 2003, (68 FR 66533, 66547-48 [pursuant to 43 CFR,
Part 42, Subpart C]), which requires compliance with the
Department of the Interior's nonprocurement debarment and
suspension requirements. Each lessee must communicate this
requirement to comply with these regulations to persons with whom
they do business related to their lease by including this term as
a condition in their contracts and other transactions. This
agreement will be evidenced by language prepared by MMS through an
Addendum included in each lease resulting from this lease sale.
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Expanded Information to
Lessees clauses regarding unleased blocks available for bid in
this lease sale that may be affected by the proposed OCS deepwater
LNG port facilities or sand dredging projects.
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This proposed notice contains
a requirement that every bidder submit, by the bid submission
deadline, a geophysical data and information statement identifying
any processed or reprocessed pre- and post-stack depth migrated
geophysical data and information in its possession or control and
used in the evaluation for each block upon which they are
participating as a bidder. |
This proposed lease sale
incorporates a continuation of previously adopted lease terms and
conditions relative to recent Central GOM lease sales.
Statistical Information (Lease Sale 194):
Size: 4,043
unleased blocks; 21.3 million acres
Initial Period:
5
years for blocks in water depths less than 400
meters: 1,180 blocks
8 years for blocks in water depths of 400 to less than 800 meters:
125 blocks
10 years for blocks in water depths of 800 meters or
deeper: 2,738 blocks
Minimum Bonus Bid Amount:
$25.00 per acre or fraction thereof for water depths less than 400
meters: 1,180 blocks
$37.50 per acre or fraction thereof for water depths 400 meters or
deeper: 2,863 blocks
Rental/Minimum Royalty Rates:
$5.00 per acre or fraction thereof for water depths less than 200
meters: 1,091 blocks
$7.50 per acre or fraction thereof for water depths 200 meters or
deeper: 2,952 blocks
Royalty Rates:
16-2/3% royalty rate in water depths less than 400 meters:
1,180 blocks
12-1/2% royalty rate in water depths 400 meters or deeper:
2,863 blocks
Royalty Suspension Areas:
0 to
less than 200 meters: 1,091 blocks
400 to less than 800 meters: 125 blocks
800 to less than 1600 meters: 195 blocks
1600 meters or deeper: 2,543 blocks
The
Proposed Notice of Lease Sale 194 will be posted on the MMS website at
http://www.gomr.mms.gov. In addition, copies of the document are
available from the MMS Gulf of Mexico Regional Office, Public
Information Unit, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana
70123. Telephone (504) 736-2591, toll free 1-800-200-GULF.
The Minerals Management Service 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 American Indian lands. MMS disbursed more than $8 billion
in FY 2003 and more than $135 billion since the agency was created in
1982. Nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and
Water Conservation Fund annually for the acquisition and development
of state and Federal park and recreation lands.
Relevant Web Sites:
MMS Main Website
Gulf of Mexico Website
Media Contacts:
Debra Winbush (504)
736-2597
Caryl Fagot (504)
736-2590
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior
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