Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE)

• Good prep by the BOEM leasing staff. On time. Quality live stream. Smooth bid reading by Jim Kendall and Bernadette Thomas.
• Strong sale: $382.2 million in high bids vs. $263.8 for Sale 259. Anything over $300 million would have been considered a good sale.
• 26 companies participated (updated from pre-sale stats)
• Strong participation by the GoM stalwarts: Shell, Chevron, Oxy/Anadarko, BP, Woodside (BHP), Equinor, Talos, LLOG, Walter, Kosmos, Beacon
• Kudos to Arena, Byron, Cantium, Focus for keeping the shelf alive
• Contrary to the regulations, it looks like we once again have a company seeking to acquire oil and gas leases for carbon disposal purposes. This time it’s Repsol which was the sole bidder for 36 low-value nearshore tracts in the Mustang Island and Matagorda Island areas (red blocks at the western end of the map above). At least Repsol also bid legitimately on 5 deepwater tracts.
• Exxon was a complete no show, as was ConocoPhillips.

Complete sale statistics will soon be available at BOEM.gov.