Thread: US plans first Gulf lease sale since big oil spill Dec. 14

US plans first Gulf lease sale since big oil spill

Thu Nov 10, 2011 1:35pm EST

* Sale scheduled for Dec. 14 in New Orleans

* Involves all available areas in western Gulf of Mexico

* 3,913 unleased blocks offered nine to 250 miles offshore

* Potential 423 million barrels oil, 2.56 Tcf natural gas

Nov 10 (Reuters) - The first Gulf of Mexico lease sale since the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill will be held Dec. 14 in New Orleans, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced Thursday.

Lease Sale 218 will offer all available unleased areas in the Western Gulf Planning Area offshore of Texas, a news release said.

The announcement follows BOEM's completion of a supplemental environmental impact statement analyzing the effects of the April 2010 explosion of Transocean Ltd's Deepwater Horizon rig as it completed drilling BP Plc's Macondo well.

The explosion killed 11 workers, sank the drilling rig and triggered the worst marine oil spill in U.S. history offshore of Louisiana. The accident spewed more than 4 million barrels of crude into the Gulf.

The sale will offer 3,913 unleased blocks covering 21 million acres (8.5 million hectares) from 9 miles to 250 miles (402 kilometers) offshore in water depths from 16 to 10,975 feet (3,345 meters).

BOEM estimates the sale could result in production of 222 to 423 million barrels of oil and 1.49 to 2.65 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the news release said.

The Final Notice of Sale published Thursday includes an increase in the minimum bid for blocks in water depths greater than 1,312 feet (400 meters) from $37.50 to $100 per acre. In shallower depths, the minimum bid will remain $25 an acre.

"Raising the minimum bid will discourage companies from inventorying offshore acreage that they are unlikely to explore during the lease term," the news release said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/ ... AJ20111110

Good news , but don't start popping the corks yet. Lease sales do not equate to punching a hole next week. Plans have to be developed and filed , then approved , a couple of years there. Then permits have to be applied for and approved , another couple of years if your lucky. Many wells have been 5 years or more in the process before drilling ever starts.
Depending on the prices , sizes and locations this would generate over a Billion $ and in an election year is good PR. This is more what it is about than anything . This administration has not gone pro fossil all the sudden.