- Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) led the way in today's federal offshore lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico, which drew $275M in high bids following years of declining offshore interest that dates back before the downturn in oil and gas prices.
- Shell made 20 bids totaling $55.9M, including the single highest apparent bid of $24.1M on Atwater Valley Block 64; Statoil (STO) counted 13 apparent high bids totaling $44.5M, and Hess (NYSE:HES) ranked third with 12 apparent high bids totaling $43.9M.
- The sale was the first since Pres. Trump took office in January and made available all open leases in the Gulf of Mexico; Gulf lease sales drew less than $175M in high bids across three separate auctions last year.