On January 29, 2002, MMS announced the completion of the bid evaluation process for Lease Sale 181. The MMS awarded 95 lease totaling $340,474,113 in high bids. All 95 blocks were located in water depths greater than 1,600 meters (5,249 feet). The highest bid ($26 million) was submitted by Anadarko Petroleum for Lloyd Ridge Block 91.
Eastern Sale 181 was held on December 5, 2001. The area of Lease Sale 181 is in deepwater off Alabama and Louisiana. The area lies 100+ miles from any portion of the Florida coast; for example, its northern border is more than 100 miles from Pensacola, Florida, and the eastern edge is 285 miles from the shores of Tampa Bay.
The preleasing process for OCS Lease Sale 181 commenced on January 15, 1999, with the publication of a Call for Information/Notice of Intent to Prepare an EIS in the Federal Register. The Area Identification for OCS Lease Sale 181 (i.e., what area was to be considered in the environmental impact statement) was announced on July 7, 1999. Scoping meetings were held in July 1999 at select sites located in Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida. The draft EIS was distributed to the general public on December 1, 2000 and public hearings were held at select Gulf Coast sites the week of January 8, 2001. The final EIS was made available to the public on July 3, 2001. The Coastal Zone Consistency Determination and Proposed Notice of Sale were released on July 12, 2001.
- Preliminary Sale Statistics (released December 4, 2001)
- Lease Sale Map - Bid Distribution (released December 5, 2001)
- Blocks Receiving Bids (released December 5, 2001)
- News Releases and Fact Sheets
- Final Notice of Sale Package (released October 26, 2001)
- NOTE: The Final Notice of Sale contains incorrect dates for the last revision of the two Official Protraction Diagrams involved in the Sale. The correct dates, on page 2 of the final Notice, should read:
NG16-02 Lloyd Ridge (revised September 1, 1999)
NH16-11 De Soto Canyon (revised September 1, 1999)
MMS regrets any inconvenience this error may have caused.
- NOTE: The Final Notice of Sale contains incorrect dates for the last revision of the two Official Protraction Diagrams involved in the Sale. The correct dates, on page 2 of the final Notice, should read:
- Notification of EFT 1/5 Bonus Liability (released December 5, 2001)
- Sale Statistics (released December 5, 2001)
- Bid Evaluation Results (updated January 24, 2002)
- Final Bid Recap (released February 15, 2002)
- Final Sale Summary by Bid System (released February 15, 2002)
- Map of Area in Proposed Sale 181