The NewsRoom
Desk Alert
Release #:  3041
Date:  March 17, 2004                                 

Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 190 Receives 829 Bids on 557 Tracts

The U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service (MMS) Gulf of Mexico Outer Continental Shelf Region (GOMR) announced at 10 a.m. today that it has received 829 bids from 75 companies on 557 tracts offered in the Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 190.  Lease Sale 190 will take place tomorrow, March 17, 2004 at 9 a.m. at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, 500 Canal Street, (Grand Ballroom C), in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Because of a federal court order issued March 15, 2004, the MMS web site and external email systems have been temporarily disconnected.  Until these systems are restored, MMS will rely on telephone, fax, and regular mail for all external communications.  Therefore, information on Lease Sale 190 will not be available on our website.  Sale information is available by calling the Gulf of Mexico Region Public Affairs Office at (504) 736-2589.  You may also fax us at (504) 736-2432.

This sale will be WebCast as follows:

Through the Offshore Oil Scouts Association at www.oosa.com.  Real Player will need to be installed in order to run the WebCast.  Webcasts of the upcoming MMS lease sale does not imply any endorsement by MMS.

The Minerals Management Service is the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nation’s oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in Federal offshore waters.  The agency also collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands.  MMS disbursed more than $8 billion in FY 2003 and more than $135 billion since the agency was created in 1982.  Nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund annually for the acquisition and development of state and Federal park and recreation lands.
 

Relevant Web Sites

MMS Main Website

Gulf of Mexico Website
 

Media Contacts

Debra Winbush
(504) 736-2597 

Caryl Fagot
(504) 736-2590

MMS: Securing Ocean Energy & Economic Value for America
U.S. Department of the Interior