NEW ORLEANS – The offshore energy industry is showing continued interest in the Gulf of Mexico’s Outer Continental Shelf, with 56 companies submitting 476 bids on 348 tracts that are being offered offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama in tomorrow’s Minerals Management Service Lease Sale 208.
“Tomorrow’s oil and gas lease sale in the Central Gulf of Mexico will help us make wise additions to our nation’s energy supply,” said Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, who will attend tomorrow’s lease sale in the New Orleans Superdome. “I look forward to opening the bids tomorrow.”
Bids were received for 13 tracts in the “181 South Area” of the Central Gulf of Mexico, Salazar noted, and 37.5 percent of the revenues generated from leased acreage in this area will be shared among Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
The Secretary will open the sale by reading the first sealed bid, beginning at 9:00 a.m. CST in the St. Charles Club Room, 2nd floor, at the Louisiana Superdome, 1500 Sugarbowl Drive, New Orleans.
The final results of the sale will be announced later in the morning, starting at about 11:45 a.m. Secretary Salazar also will visit an offshore oil production platform, make an aerial tour of state coastal restoration efforts and hold a community forum in New Orleans City Park.
The sale will be Webcast through the Offshore Oil Scouts Association at www.oosa.com. Real Player will need to be installed in order to run the Webcast. Webcast of the lease sale does not imply any endorsement by MMS.
Preliminary sale statistics for Central Sale 208 are posted on the MMS website at
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/lsesale/208/cgom208.html