Washington (Platts)--14Mar2013/258 pm EDT/1858 GMT

BP can bid in next week's Central Gulf of Mexico offshore lease sale, but will be disqualified if, after a 90-day review, the company remains under the suspension that was imposed on federal contracts after its guilty plea to Macondo oil spill-related charges, the US Department of Interior said Thursday.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it will accept bids from BP and its affiliated companies in Lease Sale 227, which will be held next week in New Orleans. BOEM also laid out the procedure it would follow to determine whether those leases can be ultimately awarded.

On leases where BP is the high bidder, BOEM said it will follow its standard procedure where it evaluates whether bids reflect fair market value. That process usually takes about 90 days, BOEM said.

"Accordingly, each individual lease award decision pertaining to BP high bids will be made when each applicable individual fair market evaluation analysis is completed," BOEM said.

If the suspension, which was imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency, has not been lifted at that point, then the second-highest bidder would be notified, asked to submit the usual deposit and then would have to undergo the same 90-day fair market value evaluation, the agency said.

BP did not submit any bids in the Western Gulf lease sale held on November 28, the same day the EPA issued its suspension that prevented the company from entering into any new government contracts, including offshore oil and gas leases.

The company has not said whether it would participate in next week's Central Gulf sale. BP is typically a major player in Central Gulf sales because of the significant deepwater fields in the area. BP's Macondo well was in the Gulf's Mississippi Canyon in the Central Gulf, off the coast of Louisiana.

BP officials did not immediately return a call for comment.

--Gary Gentile, gary_gentile@platts.com
--Edited by Jeff Barber, jeff_barber@platts.com

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