Based solely on a comparison of the bids (Sale 261 vs. Sale 259), the Sale 259 rejections were, on balance, to the benefit of the public (table below). On the plus side:
- Assuming all of the high Sale 261 bids are accepted, the net gain to the US Treasury is $8,749,365
- Of the 14 tracts with rejected high bids at Sale 259, 8 received bids at Sale 261
- Seven of those 8 bids were higher than the Sale 259 high bids, and 5 of those 7 were more than $1 million higher.
- The Sale 259 bid rejections in the Keathley Canyon and Walker Ridge areas proved to be 100% beneficial. All 6 of those tracts received much higher bids at Sale 261.
- The best BOEM decisions were the rejections of the Sale 259 bids for AT 5 and WR 795 and 796. The Sale 261 high bids on these 3 tracts were $10.8 million higher than the Sale 259 bids.
- WR 795 and 796 were single bid tracts at Sale 259.
- AT 5 received 3 bids at Sale 259. BOEM rejected the high bid despite the competitive bidding. That proved to be the right call given that the Sale 261 high bid was $3.5 million higher.
On the other hand:
- None of the 5 Green Canyon rejections received any bids at Sale 261.
- The high bid for GC 777 was rejected twice (Sales 257 and 259) at a cost of $1.8 million, the BP/Talos high bid at Sale 257. At sale 259, BP was the sole bidder for GC 777, and their bid was only $583,000, less than 1/3 of their Sale 257 bid. GC 777 received no bids at Sale 261.
- The worst BOEM Sale 259 decisions were the rejections of the DC 622, GC 547, and GC 591 bids at a cost of $4.6 million ($5.2 if the Sale 261 bid for DC 622 is rejected).
- This is not to say that the tracts with rejected bids will not ultimately be leased. However, the uncertainty regarding future sales changes the historic GoM leasing dynamic. The next opportunity for purchasing unleased tracts is a troubling unknown. Absent leasing and exploration, their resource and revenue potential will never be known.
| area and block | Sale 259 high bid – company | Sale 261 high bid | govt gain (loss) |
| DC 622 | 2,101,836 – Shell | 615,628* – Shell | (1,486,208) |
| GC 173 | 307,107 – Woodside | no bid | (307,107) |
| GC 547 | 1,783,498 – Chevron | no bid | (1,783,498) |
| GC 591 | 1,291,993 – Chevron | no bid | (1,291,993) |
| GC 642 | 605,505 – Anadarko | no bid | (605,505) |
| GC 777 | 583,103 – bp | no bid | (583,103) |
| AT 5 | 1,551,130 – Anadarko | 5,215,628* – Shell | 3,664,498 |
| AT 133 | 607,107 – Woodside | no bid | (607,107) |
| KC 745 | 707,777 – Beacon | 2,422,222 – Beacon | 1,714,445 |
| KC 789 | 707,777 – Beacon | 2,143,299 – Beacon | 1,435,522 |
| WR 794 | 724,744 – Beacon | 1,487,624 – Beacon | 762,880 |
| WR 795 | 774,242 – Beacon | 5,301,107 – Woodside | 4,526,865 |
| WR 796 | 774,242 – Beacon | 3,310,107 – Woodside | 2,535,865 |
| WR 750 | 724,744 – Beacon | 1,498,555 – Beacon | 773,811 |
Bud's Offshore Energy (BOE) 