Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 253

Gulf of Mexico OCS Region 

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Lease Sale 253 was held on August 21st, 2019. This concludes the fifth sale following the 2017 change merging the central and western protraction areas sales into two annual combined sales. The final sale of the year yielded 151 tracts receiving bids from 27 participating companies totaling $159,386,761.

Below is a breakdown summarizing the bid distribution.

In 2019 Sales 252 and 253 accounted for a total of 377 leased blocks – 56% of these blocks are within modern TGS 3D Seismic

Companies participating in Gulf of Mexico lease sales has been steady the past two years following a decline in early 2010's

165 bids on 151 blocks – Similar to the August 2018 lease sale of 171 bids on 144 blocks

Royalty rate reduced from 18.75% to 12.5% for blocks in shallow depths below 200m – 19 blocks to receive new rate

Highest single bid for Green Canyon 124 for $22,510,319 by BHP Billiton – Block is imaged by both Revolution XII/XIII 3D and Freedom/Liberty 3D