BOEM Takes Bids for GoM Lease Sale
On Wednesday, March 19, 2014, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell will announce the results of Gulf of Mexico Lease Sales 231 and 225, which are offering more than 40 million acres for oil and gas exploration and development offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Joining the Secretary on the press conference call will be Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Tommy P. Beaudreau and BOEM Gulf of Mexico Regional Director John Rodi.
As part of President Obama’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Lease Sale 231 in the Central Planning Area and Lease Sale 225 in the Eastern Planning Area are the fourth and fifth offshore auctions under the Administration’s Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program). The first three auctions in the Five Year Program offered more than 60 million acres for development and garnered more than $1.4 billion in bid revenues.
BOEM will also open bids submitted in the Western Planning Area Sale 233 for blocks located or partially located within three statute miles of the maritime and continental shelf boundary with Mexico.
When bidding closed today, 42 companies had submitted 380 bids on 326 blocks for Central Sale 231. For Western Sale 233 - U.S. Boundary Area, one company submitted three bids on three blocks. No bids were submitted for Eastern Sale 225.
