document: Although still a relatively modest affair, Gulf of Mexico operators showed more interest in Sale 251 than they exhibited at the most recent sales, sending USD 178,069,406 in high bids to the governmentâs coffers about USD 53 million more than the last sale. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) reported that 29 companies took part in the 15 August 2018 region-wide auction placing 171 bids on 144 blocks. The bidders exposed a total of USD 202.6 million. By comparison, the last Gulf-wide sale, held in March 2018, saw 148 blocks awarded to the 33 participating companies and brought in USD 124.7 million. Deepwater blocks (= 400 m/1,312 ft) accounted for 111 (77%) of the blocks taken with most of the bidding action centering on the Miocene trend in the Mississippi Canyon and Green Canyon areas. Significant bidding activity also occurred along the DeSoto Canyon-Lloyd Ridge boundary line that is likely chasing Norphlet objectives and in Alaminos Canyon for the Paleogene play. The number of shallow water blocks bid on in Sale 251 dropped from the last sale, with 33 shallow water blocks getting bids in this sale vs 46 last sale. High Island and Main Pass areas received much of this saleâs shelf bidding. For all water depths, there were 124 single-bid blocks. Twenty blocks garnered multiple bids, with one block fetching four bids.  Hess Corporation tendered the highest bid of the sale, submitting USD 25.9 million for Mississippi Canyon (MC) block 338. Hessâ offer topped a USD 2.1 million bid from a group led by LLOG Exploration Offshore. The saleâs most expensive block was part of the Silvergate prospect. Noble Energy tested Silvergate in 2016, drilling out of MC block 338 into MC block 339, to a depth of about 20,000 ft (6,096 m) targeting subsalt Miocene objectives. The company reported that the well did not encounter commercial hydrocarbons and was plugged and abandoned. MC block 338 is also adjacent to Shellâs Kepler field, an Upper Miocene accumulation. Hess doled out a total of USD 36.1 million in high bids, the second most in the sale, and took 16 blocks. Nine of these 16 tracts were in the Viosca Knoll area.  ExxonMobil won the most blocks and was the biggest spender in the sale, reeling in 25 of the 26 tracts it bid on while expending USD 40.5 million. All of ExxonMobilâs high bid blocks are closely grouped along the boundary line separating the DeSoto Canyon and Lloyd Ridge areas. Many of the blocks ExxonMobil just procured were held by Shell until they expired in February 2018. The company likely picked up this acreage for its Norphlet sand potential, playing the southern extension of the trend. Two of these DeSoto Canyon blocks are the third and fourth most expensive in the sale, coming in at USD 8.5 million and USD 7.5 million.  BP E&P Inc. and Equinor Gulf of Mexico were the other two big players in the sale. Following its strong 27 block showing in the last sale, BP placed bids on 25 blocks winning 19 of them for USD 12.5 million. BP spread its bidding across the Green Canyon (GC), Atwater Valley (AT) and Mississippi Canyon areas, but it focused on a group of five blocks in the MC area about 15 miles (24 km) west of Shellâs recently sanctioned Vito project and near Anadarkoâs Haleakala prospect, an undrilled subsalt Miocene play. BP took four of the blocks (MC blocks 936, 979, 980 and AT block 10). Shell Offshore Inc., which only bid on four blocks in Sale 251, took the fifth block (MC block 978) outbidding BP and Equinor with its USD 4.6 million bonus.  Like ExxonMobil, Equinor concentrated its bidding in a single area. However, Equinor chose to direct its aim at the Alaminos Canyon (AC) area. Of the 16 blocks picked up by the company, 13 of them are clustered in the northeast quarter of Alaminos Canyon along a sparely explored portion of the Lower Tertiary Wilcox trend. This group of blocks includes the AC block 200 discovery, an undeveloped Pliocene oil find made by ExxonMobilâs in 1998. Equinorâs seven-block acreage position for its Coral prospect, a Wilcox play, lies about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of the new pick-up.  Chevron U.S.A. Inc. did not have a large presence at Sale 251. The company bid on and won only five blocks, but it still placed USD 18.7 million in high bids, the third largest sum in the sale. The bulk of its bid money, USD 11.1 million, went to MC block 743. ExxonMobil unsuccessfully wagered USD 2.3 million for the same block. MC block 743 is just east of established Miocene oil production at Fieldwoodâs Big Bend and Chevronâs Blind Faith fields, but it is also about 10 miles (16 km) south of multiple Norphlet oil finds. The most recent being Chevronâs 2017 Norphlet discovery at its Ballymore prospect in MC block 607. Chevron also spent about USD 4.7 million to pick-up Garden Banks blocks 956 and 957. These blocks lie just west of North Platte project, an appraised Wilcox oil find, and they are also the site of Cobalt International Energyâs Baffin Bay prospect, an undrilled Wilcox play. TOTAL, the operator of North Platte, was the high bidder on two blocks just north of the project.  In addition to new plays, several operators appear to be revisiting old plays. Houston Energy and Beacon Energy Exploration combined to win Walker Ridge 544 where BP made the 2006 Tucker prospect discovery, a Wilcox oil accumulation that was not developed. The Chevronâs 2015 Wilcox discovery at the Sicily prospect in Keathley Canyon block 814 has been reacquired by Deep Gulf Energy (now Kosmos Energy), with Anadarko taking adjacent KC block 815. Anadarko won Walker Ridge block 925 which sits just north of another undeveloped Wilcox oil find, Equinorâs Logan prospect in WR blocks 969 and 970. A Murphy combine was high bidder for GC block 852. This block lies just southwest of Chevronâs appraised Wilcox oil find at the Anchor project and immediately north of Cobaltâs unsuccessful Ardennes prospect well, the Gulfâs deepest well, which was drilled to a final depth of 36,552 (11,141 m). At AT blocks 398 and 444, EnVen Energy Venture has won acreage that is the site of the undeveloped 2005 subsalt Bonsai discovery, a Lower Pliocene-Upper Miocene oil and gas find made by BP, and Eniâs Bonsai South prospect, an untested subsalt Plio-Miocene play.  BOEM sale statistics and materials for Lease Sale 251 are available at http://www.boem.gov/Sale-251/. All apparent high bids tendered during Sale 251 will be subject to BOEM review before the blocks can be officially awarded. The government processes the apparent winning high bids via a two-stage economic analysis to ensure that the public receives fair market value for all tracts leased as part of sale offering. Sale 251 was the third sale held under the 2017-2022 OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program. It encompassed about 14,622 unleased blocks, located from three to 230 miles (five to 368 km) offshore in water depths ranging from nine to more than 11,115 feet (three to 3,400 meters).
summary: GoM Lease sale 251 - 29 companies took part, placing 171 bids on 144 blocks. ExxonMobil won the most blocks and was the biggest spender in the sale, getting 25 of the 26 tracts it bid on BP and Equinor were the next big players, BP winning 19 of 25 sought, and Equinor 16.