Unspectacular

The Western Gulf of Mexico lease sale 180 held in August by the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) “while not horrible, was not as spectacular as one might have originally thought,” according to a Stat of the Week by Raymond James energy analysts. The analysts noted that despite the “record levels of cash flow, pristine balance sheets, and what appears to be a general lack of prospects” for exploration and production companies, the “firecracker lease sales seem to have fizzled out.”