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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The federal government has sold more than 400,000 acres in the western Gulf of Mexico off the Texas coast for oil and gas exploration and development.
U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management official Michael Celata says Wednesday's sales, if approved, will bring in about $110 million.
Celata says deep-water tracts drew the highest bids.
Conoco Phillips paid about $61 million for a single tract in the ultra-deep-water Alaminos Canyon area.
The sale is the latest in the Obama administration's five-year program to aggressively develop resources on the Outer Continental Shelf.
Previous sales involved about 60 million offshore acres in the western Gulf, which added about $2.3 billion to the U.S. Treasury.
The government must decide whether to award the tracts to bidders within 90 days.
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