MMS announces lease sale bid winners
Offshore staff
NEW ORLEANS -- The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has accepted high bids valued at $111,385,124 and awarded 155 leases to the successful high bidders who participated in Western Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 210 held on Aug. 19, 2009.
The leases were awarded following the completion of a two-phase bid evaluation process.
During Lease Sale 210, twenty-seven companies submitted 189 bids on 162 tracts in the Western Gulf of Mexico. The total for high bids submitted on all tracts was $115,466,321. Using the two-phase bid evaluation process, MMS rejected high bids totaling $4,081,197 on seven tracts as being insufficient for fair market value.
The highest bid accepted on a tract was $28,133,843 for Keathley Canyon block 96 submitted by BP Exploration & Production Inc. This tract is located in a water depth of 4,934 ft (1,504 m) and received three bids.
| Company | Number of High Bids Accepted | Sum of High Bids Accepted |
| BP Exploration & Production Inc. | 34 | $47,892,662 |
| Chevron USA | 25 | $8,857,723 |
| ConocoPhillips Co. | 22 | $15,172,500 |
| Exxon Mobil Corp. | 17 | $8,587,021 |
| Focus Exploration | 13 | $3,767,020 |
12/10/2009