A sale of drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday ended with $46.98 million in high bids from oil and gas companies, with a single bid from BP accounting for nearly half of the total, according to a livestreamed U.S. government auction.
The sale, conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, yielded far less industry interest than the last one three months ago. President Donald Trump's administration has prioritized regular lease sales, and is planning for 30 in the region through 2040.
A $21 million high bid from BP for a block in the Green Canyon area was by far the auction's highest. Other high bidders included Chevron, Woodside Energy, Shell, LLOG Exploration and Anadarko. Chevron's high bid total, for three blocks, neared $11.5 million.
The bids were read via livestream on BOEM's website.
"Today's results are an important and necessary step forward," Lanny Erdos, the Interior Department's acting assistant secretary for land and minerals management, said at the auction. "We have restored certainty. For far too long, the offshore industry has operated under delays and policy reversals."
BOEM is an arm of the Interior Department.
(Reuters - Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Mark Porter and Will Dunham)