BP can bid in next week's Central Gulf offshore lease sale: US BOEM
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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