Minerals Management Service Director Johnnie Burton will be in New Orleans on March 15 to host the Central Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 198. Burton will open the sale at 9 a.m. (CST) in the Napoleon Ballroom with brief remarks. Immediately following the bid reading, she will hold a media availability to discuss the results of the sale. Lease Sale 198 encompasses 4,040 unleased blocks covering approximately 21.3 million acres in the Central GOM Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. The blocks are located from three to more than 210 miles offshore, in water depths of four to more than 3,400 meters. MMS estimates the lease sale could result in the production of 276 to 654 million barrels of oil and 1.59 to 3.30 Tcf of natural gas. The lease sale will be broadcast at www.oosa.com.

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