Oil and gas Lease Sale 252 generated $244.3 million in high bids for 227 tracts covering 1,261,133.85 acres in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico (GoM).
According to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management data, that’s still way below the $405 million generated by the December Massachusetts offshore wind sale, but considerably better than the $178 million generated by the August 2018 GoM lease sale.
A total of 30 companies participated in the lease sale, submitting $283,782,480 in all bids. Royal Dutch Shell and Equinor were among the high bidders for the leases.
“Today’s lease sale shows strong bidding by established companies, which indicates that the Gulf of Mexico will continue to be a leading energy source for our nation long into the future,” said Assistant Secretary Balash. “The results from today will help secure well-paying offshore jobs, while generating much-needed revenue to fund everything from conservation to infrastructure.”
“The Gulf of Mexico remains a premier basin, covering about 160 million acres. It holds about 48.5 billion barrels of oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered and technically recoverable gas,” said Acting BOEM Director Walter Cruickshank. “Today’s lease sale represents another step forward in the Administration’s comprehensive effort to secure domestically produced energy for our Nation’s energy future.”
Revenues received from OCS leases (including high bids, rental payments and royalty payments) are directed to the U.S. Treasury, certain Gulf Coast states (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama), the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the Historic Preservation Fund.