US unveils Gulf of Mexico lease sale

摘要

Shaun Polczer, CALGARY: The Department of Interior is planning its second lease sale in the western Gulf of Mexico since the 2010 Macondo blowout. On offer are 3,873 blocks covering 20.8 million acres, in water depths ranging from 16 feet to more than 10,975 feet. Bids close on 28 November in New Orleans. Sale 229 will be the first under the new outer continental shelf oil and gas leasing programme, a five-year plan which makes available offshore areas with the highest conventional resource potential, according to Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The areas included in the 2012-2017 leasing plan are believed to hold about 75% of the US's undiscovered resource potential. BOEM estimates that development of the acreage could result in the production of 116 to 200 million barrels of oil and 538 to 938 billion cubic feet (cf) of natural gas.