MMS completes Central Gulf lease bid evaluations
  by: OilOnline
  Monday, June 30, 2003

The Minerals Management Service completed the two-phase bid evaluations for Lease Sale 185 in the Central Gulf of Mexico. The sale was held March 19, 2003. Of the 561 tracts receiving bids, MMS rejected 16 high bids totaling $17.93 million as insufficient for fair market value. The final net high bid total for the lease offering is now $297,598,165 on 545 tracts. The highest bid accepted was an $8.2 million offer by Hunt Petroleum-Cheyenne International and Energy Partners for South Marsh Island, South Addition Block 109 in shallow water. The second and third highest bids were $7.35 million and $7.1 million by Union of California, Kerr-McGee and Ocean Energy on Green Canyon Blocks 320 and 364 in deepwater. Kerr-McGee won 63 tracts in the sale, the greatest number for a single oil company, followed by Newfield Exploration and BHP Billiton, which each won 49 tracts.