The Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) lease sale in the Alaska Beaufort Sea, which was held Wednesday, generated more than $42 million in total bids from oil and natural gas producers.

Producers submitted bids totaling $42.33 million on 92 blocks, with high bids in Lease Sale 202 totaling $42.16 million, covering about 502 million acres offshore Alaska’s arctic coast, according to Interior Department’s MMS.

The highest bid received for the sale was $14.10 million submitted by Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. for Flaxman Island NR06-04 Block 6609. Shell Gulf also bid the most high bids (49), totaling $39.25 million. Other company high bidders included Total E&P USA Inc., Eni Petroleum US LLC, ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. and BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.

The Beaufort Sea Lease Sale 202 offered 8.7 million acres offshore Alaska’s northern coast extending from the Canadian border on the east to new Barrow, AK, on the west, according to MMS. The area is located in water depths ranging from 33 to 2,970 feet, although a majority of the area is less than 330 feet deep, the agency said. It is believed to hold substantial energy reserves.

The state of Alaska receives 27% of all revenues generated as a result of federal leasing within three to six miles off the Alaska coast.

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