Gulf of Mexico is the only offshore area in the U.S. where 

 the effort to increase leases of offshore oil and gas re- 

 serves is on schedule (Hanna, 1976). 



The reduced chances of significant finds in OCS leases 

 is reflected in the average price per acre which has declined 

 substantially since the highs it reached in 1974. The 

 March 29, 1974 sale in Louisiana brought a record high bid 

 of $4,967 per acre while subsequent sales brought average bids 

 of $170, $2,248, $585, $581, and $1,793. In Texas, the high- 

 est average bid per acre was $2,605 in the May 29, 1974 sale 

 while average bids since then have not exceeded $600. 



The January, 1977 proposed OCS Planning Schedule appears 

 in Table 2.3. As can be seen, the most recent lease sale in 

 the Gulf of Mexico was a drainage sale 2 held in November, 1976 

 The schedule also indicates that 5 move lease sales are sched- 

 uled for the Gulf of Mexico through 1930, including 2 in 1977 

 and 1 each in 1978, 1979, and 1980. This schedule represents 

 a revision of the 1975 schedule, that had become off-target, 

 except for those portions pertaining to the Gulf of Mexico 

 which have remained on schedule. 



The planning schedule (Table 2.3) indicates the process 

 undertaken by the Bureau of Land Management prior to each 



A drainage sale is one in which the offered tracts are being 

 drained of their oil and gas reserves by producing adjacent 

 tracts . 



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