The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 259 generated $263,801,783 in high bids for 313 tracts covering 1.6 million acres in federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. 

A total of 32 companies participated in the lease sale, submitting $309,798,397 in total bids. Leases resulting from this sale will include stipulations to mitigate potential adverse effects on protected species and to avoid potential conflicts with other ocean uses in the region. 

Revenues received from offshore oil and gas leases (including high bids, rental payments, and royalty payments) are directed to the U.S. Treasury, certain Gulf Coast states (Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama) and local governments, the Land and Water Conservation Fund and the Historic Preservation Fund. 

Lease Sale 259 offered approximately 13,600 unleased blocks, approximately 73 million acres, in the Gulf’s Western, Central and Eastern Planning Areas.  

According to Reuters, Chevron was the auction’s biggest spender with nearly US$108 million in high bids for 75 tracts. It also made the auction’s highest offer of US$15.9 million for a tract in the Keathley Canyon deepwater area. The US oil major said it was pleased with the sale results.

Exxon snapped up 69 shallow water blocks near the Texas coastline, spending US$9.8 million in total. Analysts have said the company may be preparing for a carbon capture and storage project.

The company on Wednesday said only that it was “evaluating the seismic and subsurface geology for future commercial potential”.

BP’s high bids totalled US$46.6 million, while Shell Plc spent US$20.1 million and Equinor ASA’s high bids amounted to US$18.3 million.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: BOEM