U.S. Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale

摘要

Robust bidding at the Minerals Management Service (MMS) Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale No. 190 saw 83 companies place 829 bids on 557 tracts, the highest number of bids received in the past six years. Bidders offered 636.8 dollars million in total bids and 368.7 million dollars in high bids, up significantly from total high bids of 315.5 dollars million seen in last year's Central Gulf Lease Sale No. 185. While it did not measure up to 1998's impressive Lease Sale No. 169, Lease Sale No. 190 showed a welcome increase compared to last year, though the total money exposed was down slightly from 2002. Bidding activity could be attributed to the strong demand for shallow gas prospects, still evident as it was last year, but operators also showed more interest in ultra-deepwater tracts. Healthy oil and gas prices, with WTI spot prices hovering around 35.00 dollars per barrel and natural gas prices averaging around 5.61 dollars per Mcf, and an Increased Gulf utilization rate of 72 percent also contributed to the increased interest.