U.S. Department of the Interior
Minerals Management Service
Office of Public Affairs

NEWS RELEASE

MMS Issues Proposed Notice of Sale 178, Part 2

The Proposed Notice of Sale for Outer Continental Shelf Lease Sale 178, Part 2, Central Gulf of Mexico , is available in today’s Federal Register. The sale will be held concurrently with the Western Gulf of Mexico Sale 180 on August 22, 2001, in New Orleans, La.

The Minerals Management Service proposes to offer for lease blocks that are beyond the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the northern portion of the area formerly known as the Western Gap. Sale 178, Part 2, encompasses 53 whole or partial blocks in the Central Gulf Planning Area that were not offered in Central Gulf Sale 178, Part 1, held on March 28, 2001.

This proposed notice follows the recent approval of a treaty by the United States and Mexico that establishes the continental shelf boundary between the two countries. Specifically, the blocks beyond the U.S. EEZ in the northern portion of the area formerly known as the Western Gap that are now proposed to be available for leasing will be subject to the provisions of the Law of the Sea Convention Royalty Payment Stipulation contained in the Sale Notice. These blocks are not in the 1.4-nautical mile buffer zone established by the treaty.

The Proposed Notice of Sale will be posted on the MMS Website at http://www.mms.gov. In addition, copies of the document are available from MMS’s Gulf of Mexico Regional Office, Public Information Unit, 1201 Elmwood Park Blvd., New Orleans La., 70123. Telephone (504) 736-2591, toll free 1-800-200-GULF.

SIZE: 53 Unleased blocks; 294,426.29 acres

PRIMARY LEASE TERMS: 10 Year - Water depths 800 meters or deeper - 53 Blocks

MINIMUM BID: $37.50 per acre or fraction thereof – Water depths 800 meters or deeper - 53 Blocks

ANNUAL RENTAL RATES: $7.50 per acre or fraction thereof - Water depths 200 meters or deeper - 53 Blocks

ROYALTY RATES: 12 1/2% Royalty - Water depths 400 meters or deeper - 53 Blocks

ROYALTY SUSPENSION AREAS: 1600 Meters and Greater Royalty Suspension Area - 53 Blocks

The MMS, a bureau in the U.S. Department of the Interior, is the federal agency that manages the nation's natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf. The agency also collects, accounts for and disburses more than $5 billion per year in revenues from federal offshore mineral leases and from onshore mineral leases on federal and Indian lands.

-MMS-

MMS Internet website address: http://www.mms.gov