Shell Dominates Gulf Lease Sale as Companies Pony Up

摘要

Royal Dutch Shell dominated the latest US Gulf of Mexico lease sale on Wednesday, placing apparent high bids on 87 blocks in a sale that attracted most of the active US offshore players. Shell was the apparent high bidder on all but one of the blocks it sought, most of which were bid without any competition. The most glaring exception was Mississippi Canyon (MC) Block 801, which attracted the most bids of any single block, including a $24.5 million apparent high bid from Equinor - the highest single bid of the sale. That bid beat out Shell’s $9 million offer and two others. The $9 million losing bid was Shell’s highest bid of the sale.