Oil, gas bids slim for Gulf of Mexico
Just three bidders — Billiton Petroleum, BP and Exxon Mobil — participated in bidding for oil and gas leases in the Western Gulf of Mexico Planning area, which yielded $18,067,000 in high bids for 138,240 acres off the coast of Texas.
“It’s attributable to low commodity prices,” spokeswoman Caryl Fagot of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said of the low totals Wednesday, after leases were announced in New Orleans.
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READ MORE: Low prices influence lease sales
All of the tracts leased were in deep water, 400 to 1,600 meters; none were in ultradeep, which is more than 1,600 meters.
Sale 248, the last off the Texas shore in the Obama administration’s 2012-17 lease plan for the Gulf of Mexico, included 23.8 million acres offered. BOEM oversees 160 million acres on the Gulf’s Outer Continental Shelf. Of these, about 20 million acres are leased for oil and gas; 4.3 million acres are producing oil and gas.
For the first time, the sale was broadcast solely live on the internet, which Fagot said increased the audience from about 200 who used to attend the sales in person to about 1,100 online.
“We really had been looking at doing something different,” she said.
Protests influenced changes
At least 100 protesters disrupted the March 23 lease sale for the Central and Eastern planning districts, BOEM said.
At that meeting, activists marched or rode to the Superdome, where the sale was held, then chanted during the reading of bids. Some protesters tried to climb onto the stage, BOEM said.
Wednesday’s meeting was not open to a live audience on site.
Fagot said the energy lease process includes opportunities for the public to comment on environmental concerns; after the March meeting, BOEM expressed concerned about safety at the meetings.
“The protesters at the March sale did influence us somewhat,” she said. “We respect the right to protest but we had to protect the safety of all participants.”
The next lease sale, scheduled for March, will be the last in the five-year plan. After that, a new plan will go into effect.