"Bellwether" Gulf oil-and-gas lease sale yields modest results

Yesterday's Interior Department sale of Gulf of Mexico oil-and-gas leases drew modest action, with companies offering roughly $125 million in winning bids (and $139 million in total bids). The chart below shows the companies that submitted the highest total winning offers in Lease Sale 250 and how many blocs they successfully bid on.

One reason it matters: The expectations game. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told a major energy conference in Houston this month that the sale would be a "bellwether" for industry interest in new Gulf leases.

The previous Gulf auction in August drew $121 million in high bids, while the one before that — a year ago — drew almost $275 million in high bids.

Context: The sale arrives at a time when the Gulf is competing with onshore U.S. shale and offshore opportunities in other regions, such as Brazil's massive fields.

• "With about a 60% increase in acreage from August but relatively the same dollar amount and low competition, bidders got a bargain at today's lease sale. Bidding activity focused on Mississippi Canyon where operators were likely drawn to its established infrastructure and lowest cost developments in the Gulf of Mexico," said William Turner, an analyst with the consultancy Wood Mackenzie, in a short note.

The bids were nowhere near the salad days of Gulf lease sales, which have seen several billion dollars in total bids on some occasions over the years. The last billion-dollar sale was in 2013 — when high bids totaled $1.2 billion — while a 2008 sale brought $3.7 billion in high offers.

• A full list dating back to the 1950s is here.

Yes, but: Via S&P Global Platts, "Sale 250 featured fairly high offers made by Shell for the four tracts offered in the remote Alaminos Canyon area that borders Mexican waters. Shell put down $6.5 million, $3.8 million, $2.1 million and $1.2 million, respectively, for the four blocks, and was the apparent high bidder on all."

• Their piece also notes "spirited" bidding in the Mississippi Canyon region near the Louisiana coast.

Go deeper: Reuters has a detailed piece on the sale here.