New US Gulf of Mexico auction draws major attention

The USA’s latest offshore oil and gas auction has received high bids equaling USD 382 million for blocks in the Gulf of Mexico, the USA’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced on Wednesday.

The Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 261 consisted of more than 13,000 tracts on offer covering an area of 294,000 square kilometres.

A total of 352 bids were placed by 26 companies on 311 concessions that cover an area of 6,890 square kilometres, predominantly on the Mississippi Canyon and Green Canyon deepwater areas south of Louisiana.

A total of 20 operators secured offshore blocks, including Shell, Chevron, BP, Equinor, Repsol, Woodside Energy, Occidental Petroleum, Anadarko Petroleum, Hess Corporation, Murphy Oil, Talos Energy and Kosmos Energy.

Shell bid on more blocks than its competitors, with total bids reaching USD 74.6 million. It’s areas of focus were Mississippi Canyon and Green Canyon deepwater areas in addition to tracts in the Alaminos Canyon area off Texas in the far southwest of the US Gulf of Mexico.

Repsol was the sole bidder for blocks in the Mustang Island and Matagorda Island areas, acquiring 29 and seven permits respectively.

In the East Breaks area offshore Texas, Chevron took on 18 blocks, Woodside Energy took on five blocks and Occidental Petroleum took on three blocks.

The auction is the USA’s final bid round of its kind currently planned until 2025.