Offshore staff
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana –The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) plans to hold Gulf of Mexico Eastern Planning Area Oil and Gas Lease Sale 225 in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 19, 2014, following Central Planning Area (CPA) Sale 231.
Sale 225 is the first lease sale proposed for the Eastern Planning Area under the 2012–2017 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Natural Gas Leasing Program, and the first sale offering acreage in that area since Sale 224, held in March 2008.
The sale will encompass 134 whole or partial unleased blocks covering 465,200 acres in the Eastern Planning Area. The blocks are located at least 125 statute miles offshore, in water depths ranging from 2,657 ft (810 m) to 10,213 ft (3,113 m).
Of the 134 blocks available in this sale, 93 are located in the same area offered in 2008’s Eastern Planning Area Sale 224 and are subject to revenue sharing under the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (GOMESA), which provides that the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas share in 37.5% of the bonus payments.
These four Gulf producing states will also share in 37.5% of all future revenues generated from those leases. Additionally, 12.5% of revenues from those leases are allocated to the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The remaining 41 blocks, located just south of that area, are not subject to revenue sharing under GOMESA.
BOEM estimates that the lease sale could result in the production of 710 million barrels of oil and 162 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The terms of this sale ensure both orderly resource development and protection of the human, marine, and coastal environments. All terms and conditions for Lease Sale 225 will be finalized when the Final Notice of Sale is published at least 30 days prior to the sale.
12/03/2013
