An estimated 28.5 million acres of land in federal waters offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama will be offered for lease in October as the Minerals Management Service (MMS) holds the first Central Gulf of Mexico lease sale in its 2007-2012 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leasing program.

Interior Department’s MMS said it projects that the oil and natural gas lease sale could result in production of 0.776 to 1.292 billion barrels of oil and 3.236 to 5.229 Tcf of gas.

Lease Sale 205 includes about 5,000 unleased blocks located in the newly configured Central Gulf of Mexico OCS Planning Area in areas ranging from three to about 224 miles offshore, according to the agency. Water depths range from about 12 feet to more than 11,200 feet.

The public reading of the bids received for the sale will take place on Oct. 3 at the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel.

The final notice of sale, which contains the full terms and conditions for the sale and new official leasing maps, is available on the MMS website at https://www.gomr.mms.gov.

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