Lease Sale 161
September 25, 1996

The Outer Continental Shelf Sale 161 was held in New Orleans, Louisiana on September 25, 1996. 73 companies, comprising 57 bidding groups, offered 929 bids on 617 tracts, totaling $503.6 million. The total sum of apparent winning bids was $356.1 million. There were 5,168 blocks, covering some 28.4 million acres, offered in Sale 161. The lease terms offered were 5, 8, or 10 years, depending on water depth.

This represents an all time record for the Western Gulf, both for the Number of Bids, and the Number of Tracts Receiving Bids, dating back to 1983 (Sale 74 - 773 bids) and 1989 (Sale 122 - 488 tracts), respectively.

A year ago, the MMS offered 5,181 blocks, covering 28.5 million acres, in the Western Gulf of Mexico Sale 155. As a result, 263 tracts were leased, for bonuses of over $110 million. 

The data for Sale 161 was revised on 10/2/96, after receipt of revised data from the MMS.