Shell Offshore leads way in more-active US central gulf lease sale

[thackney]

Shell Offshore leads way in more-active US central gulf lease sale
http://www.ogj.com/articles/2017/03/shell-offshore-leads-way-in-more-active-us-central-gulf-lease-sale.html
03/22/2017, By Matt Zborowski

Bidding activity and total value climbed in central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 247 following years of declining offshore interest that dates back before the downturn in oil and gas prices.

The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management received 189 bids on 163 blocks from 28 companies at its latest auction in New Orleans on Mar. 22. The sum of high bids was about $275 million.

The last central gulf auction, Lease Sale 241 in 2016, drew 148 bids on 128 blocks from 30 firms. High bids totaled $156 million (OGJ Online, Mar. 23, 2016).

As with last year’s sale, Shell Offshore Inc. led all firms in sum of apparent high bids. The firm made 20 bids amounting to $55.9 million, including the single highest apparent bid of $24.1 million on Atwater Valley Block 64 as well as $5.1 million on Mississippi Canyon Block 845.

Statoil Gulf of Mexico LLC placed second in both sum of apparent high bids and highest single bids. The Norwegian firm counted 13 apparent high bids totaling $44.5 million, including $21.2 million on Walker Ridge Block 55 and $11.1 million on Walker Ridge Block 189.

US independent Hess Corp. was third in sum of apparent high bids and highest single bids. With 12 high bids, it’s slated to shell out $43.9 million, including $18.3 million on Green Canyon Block 287 and $6.8 million for Green Canyon Block 72.

Chevron USA Inc. also tallied 20 apparent high bids but with total value of $35.6 million. Its highest winning bid was $11.3 million on Green Canyon Block 72. Fellow US supermajor ExxonMobil Corp. made 19 apparent high bids totaling $21.9 million, including $5.3 million on Green Canyon Block 250.

Anadarko US Offshore Inc., another US independent, counted 16 apparent high bids amounting to $18.9 million, including $5.1 million on Mississippi Canyon Block 41. Another notable European participant, Total E&P USA Inc., made the fourth-highest single bid of $12.6 million on Garden Banks Block 1006. The French supermajor won 4 bids totaling $15 million.

Of the 163 blocks receiving bids, 76 targeted blocks in 800-1,600 m of water and 48 targeted blocks in more than 1,600 m of water. Garden Banks Block 1006, taken by Total, garnered the most interest with 5 bids overall....

[thackney]

https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/successful-gulf-mexico-lease-sale-yields-275-million-high-bids-913542-acres-central

Following today’s sales, each bid will go through a 90-day evaluation process to ensure the public receives fair market value before a lease is awarded. 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 materials and statistics for Lease Sale 247 are available at http://www.boem.gov/Sale-247/.

As of March 1, 2017, about 16.9 million acres on the U.S. OCS are under lease for oil and gas development (3,194 active leases) and 4.6 million of those acres (929 leases) are producing oil and natural gas. More than 97 percent of the leases are in the Gulf of Mexico; about 3 percent are on the OCS off California and Alaska.

{Map of} Active Leases and Bids Received for Central Planning Area (CPA)
Lease Sale 247, March 22, 2017
https://www.boem.gov/Sale-247-Active-Leases-Map/

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Shell is betting its future on the deep water philosophy.

I recall when working deep water 20+ years ago that at the time it had limited return for the developments in the GOM; however, those same boys were experimenting the technology in the Gulf for the real bonanzas in DW Nigeria, Angola, etc. where the ability to experiment is limited.

Their bet paid off, and Shell is doing the same at this time, primarily trying more bare-bones to keep costs low.