March 21, 2017
Central Gulf of Mexico Sale Will Be Broadcast Live on the Internet
John Filostrat (BOEM) 504-731-7815
Caryl Fagot (BOEM) 504-736-2590
NEW ORLEANS – The Department of Interior and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management will conduct a lease sale on Wednesday, March 22, 2017, offering 48 million acres in federal waters offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama for oil and gas exploration and development.
Lease Sale 247, which includes all unleased and non-protected areas in the Central Gulf of Mexico Planning Area, will be livestreamed to the public via the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management website at www.BOEM.gov or via livestream at https://livestream.com/BOEMGOMR. The bid reading begins at 9:00 AM CDT and will be broadcast live.
Lease Sale 247, the twelfth offshore sale under the Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2012-2017 (Five Year Program), includes 9,118 tracts located from three to 230 miles offshore, in water depths ranging from nine to more than 11,115 feet (3 to 3,400 meters). The first eleven sales in the Five Year Program offered nearly 73 million acres for development and garnered more than $3 billion in bid revenues.
When bidding closed, 24 companies had submitted 189 bids on 163 tracts for Central Sale 247. A map showing the location of tracts receiving bids will be available on the BOEM website at: http://www.boem.gov/Sale-247/ at 7:00 AM CDT tomorrow.
BOEM estimates the lease sale could result in the production of 460 to 890 million barrels of oil, and 1.9 trillion cubic feet to 3.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. BOEM’s economic terms and conditions are the same as previous sales and include a range of incentives to encourage diligent development and ensure a fair return to taxpayers.
The broadcast of the bid reading allows bid information to reach a much broader audience and eliminates the need for the public to physically attend the bid reading. News media representatives are invited to view the sale via the livestream and participate in a news media teleconference following the bid reading. BOEM Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Michael Celata will announce the results of the sale and answer questions.
Totals for the sale will be announced as soon as the bids are tallied, and end the live stream. A media teleconference will follow and a press release and statistics will be released and posted to BOEM’s website the same day.
Evaluation of bids for fair market value takes place over the next 90 days. Lease awards will be posted to BOEM’s website as they are completed. A Note to Stakeholders will announce final sales statistics and bids rejected upon completion of evaluations.
All Sale 247-related materials are posted to the BOEM website on the Lease Sale 247 Information page on the BOEM GOM website at http://www.boem.gov/sale-247/:
WHO: | Michael Celata, Regional Director, BOEM Gulf of Mexico Region | |
WHAT: | Lease Sale 247 and Press Conference Call to Announce Results | |
WHEN: | Wednesday, March 22, 2017: Bid reading begins at 9:00 AM CDT, Press Conference Call begins at 10:30 AM CDT | |
WHERE: | ||
MEDIA: | Credentialed news media only are invited to participate in the teleconference following the bid reading by calling |