|
The NewsRoom
Release: #3466
Date: February 23, 2006
RIK Crude Oil Sale Sparks
Strong Bidding
DENVER – More than 13 million barrels of Royalty
in Kind (RIK) crude oil and condensate from the Gulf of Mexico have
been sold to eight companies in two sales conducted by the
Department of the Interior’s Minerals Management Service (MMS). The
contracts are scheduled to begin April 1, 2006.
Eight companies submitted winning bids: Chevron
Products Company; Shell Trading Company; ExxonMobil Oil Corp.; Plains
Marketing; Sempra Energy Trading; Koch Supply and Trading LP; Nexen
Marketing USA Inc.; and ConocoPhillips.
The sales involved crude oil royalties taken “in
kind,” in the form of oil rather than in cash payments, from offshore
Federal leases in the Gulf of Mexico. MMS then sells the oil
competitively in the open marketplace and returns the profits to the
US Treasury. The Royalty in Kind program, in its second full
operational year, improves government efficiencies, reduces regulatory
costs and reporting requirements, and returns a fair value on the
public’s royalty assets.
While a total of 13,219,670 barrels were offered in
this sale, bids on a very small portion of the oil were not accepted
after it was determined that cash payments were a better return for
taxpayers.
MMS, an agency of the U.S. Department of the
Interior, manages offshore oil and gas exploration as well as
renewable and alternative energy sources such as wind, wave, and solar
on 1.76 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf while protecting
the human, marine, and coastal environments. The OCS provides 30
percent of oil and 21 percent of natural gas produced domestically,
and sand used for coastal restoration. MMS collects, accounts for, and
disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands, and
contributes to the Land and Water Conservation Fund and other special
use funds, with Fiscal Year 2005 disbursements of approximately $9.9
billion and more than $153 billion since 1982.
Relevant Web
Site:
MMS Main Website
Media Contact:
Patrick Etchart
(303) 231-3162
MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for
America
U.S. Department of the Interior
Privacy |
Disclaimers |
Accessibility |
Topic Index | FOIA
|