Outer Continental Shelf, Eastern Gulf of Mexico, Oil and Gas Lease Sale 181

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Minerals Management Service

Outer Continental Shelf, Eastern Gulf of Mexico, Oil and Gas

Lease Sale 181

AGENCY: Minerals Management Service (MMS), Interior.

ACTION: Call for Interest and Information (Call) and Notice of Intent

(NOI) to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

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Call for Interest and Information

The MMS is issuing this Call pursuant to the Outer Continental

Shelf (OCS) Lands Act as amended (43 U.S.C. 1331-1356, (1994)), and the

regulations issued thereunder (30 CFR Part 256).

Purpose of Call

The purpose of this Call is to ask for an indication of interest by

potential bidders and to gather information from all potentially

affected parties about possible oil and gas leasing, exploration,

development, and production in the area available for leasing

consideration for Sale 181 in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico (EGOM). This

Call is not a preliminary decision to lease in the Sale 181 area. It is

the initial information-gathering step in a 3-year prelease

decisionmaking process. The area available for leasing consideration in

Sale 181 and the tentative schedule for the steps in the process

leading to a final decision on the sale are described below.

Tentative Sale 181 Schedule

The following is a list of planned presale process steps and

related tentative dates applicable to proposed Sale 181:

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Process step Tentative completion date

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Call/NOI..................................... January 1999.

Comments due on Call/NOI..................... March 1999.

Area Identification.......................... June 1999

Draft EIS.................................... August 2000.

Public Hearings.............................. September 2000.

Final EIS.................................... June 2001

Proposed Notice of Sale & CZM Consistency July 2001.

Determination.

Final Notice of Sale......................... October 2001.

Bid Opening/Reading.......................... December 2001.

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Please note that the MMS is considering changing the proposed Sale

181 bid opening/reading from December 2001 to March 2002, and holding

it in conjunction with proposed Central GOM Sale 182. These proposed

sales would be planned and held as two separate sales, but holding the

sales sequentially on the same day in the same location might be

beneficial to MMS and prospective bidders due to the commonality of

potential oil and gas plays and related exploration and development

issues. All interested parties are requested to consider this proposed

Sale 181 schedule change and include any comments on this matter along

with the following specific requested information.

Description of Call Area

The area of this Call covers a small portion of the EGOM Planning

Area offshore Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. It includes 1,033

blocks covering 5.949 million acres (see attached map). This is the

area identified as available for leasing consideration for Sale 181 in

the 1997-2002 OCS OIL AND Gas Leasing Program. During development of

the 5-Year Program, the MMS consulted with the States of Alabama and

Florida and was responsive to their concerns in identifying the Sale

181 area. The MMS considers all of this area to have potential for the

discovery of accumulations of hydrocarbons. None of the EGOM outside

the Sale 181 area is available for leasing in this 5-year program. In

addition, in a June 1998 announcement, the President withdrew from

leasing until 2012 numerous areas of the OCS, including all of the EGOM

outside the area identified as available for leasing consideration for

Sale 181. A ``Call for Information Map'' depicting the Sale 181 area on

a block-by-block basis is available without charge from the MMS Gulf of

Mexico Public Information Unit (see last paragraph of this Call).

Currently 39 blocks covering 224,640 acres are under lease (this

figure may change before the sale if any of the leases become expired,

relinquished, or terminated). Eight wells have been drilled in the Sale

181 area. At this time there are plans to develop two areas: Destin

Dome Blocks 1 and 2 (four wells from two surface locations; and DeSoto

Canyon Blocks 133 and 177 (two wells in each block). Both of these

areas are along the western boundary of the sale area and may be

associated with well-developed areas of the Central Gulf of Mexico

Planning Area.

The Department of Defense makes use of much of the EGOM, including

the proposed sale area. The Navy conducts various training missions for

both ships and aircraft, and the Air Force conducts aircraft training

missions as well as the testing of various weapons from nearby Eglin

Air Force Base and associated facilities in Florida. Coordination

between the Department of Defense and the MMS is ongoing to minimize

conflicts.

Instructions to Potential Bidders in Responding to Call

Potential bidders are requested to indicate interest in any or all

of the acreage within the boundaries of the Call area that they wish to

have included in EGOM OCS Lease Sale 181. Respondents should rank areas

in which they express interest according to priority of their interest

(e.g., priority 1 [high], 2 [medium], or 3 [low]). Respondents should

be specific in indicating blocks by priority; blanket nominations (such

as nominating the entire Call area as high priority) are not useful and

may be ignored in the MMS analysis of industry interest. Also, areas

where interest has been indicated but on which respondents have not

indicated priorities will be considered priority 3 [low]. Responses may

be provided in textual block listings (by Official Protraction Diagram

designations) or graphically along block boundaries on the ``Call for

Information Map'' or on Official Protraction Diagrams (which may be

purchased from the MMS Gulf of Mexico Public Information Unit).

Although individual indications of interest are considered to be

privileged and proprietary information, the names of persons or

entities indicating interest or submitting comments will be of public

record.

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Instructions to all Interested Parties in Responding to Call

Comments are sought from all interested parties about particular

environmental, geologic, and socioeconomic conditions or conflicts, or

other information that might bear upon the potential oil and gas

leasing, exploration, development, and production activities from

proposed EGOM Sale 181. Comments are also sought on possible conflicts

between potential future OCS oil and gas activities that may result

from the proposed sale and State Coastal Management Programs (CMPs). If

possible, these comments should identify specific CMP policies of

concern, the nature of the conflict foreseen, and steps that the MMS

could take to avoid or mitigate the potential conflict. Comments may

either be in terms of broad areas or restricted to particular blocks of

concern. Those submitting comments are requested to list blocks or

outline the subject area on the ``Call for Information Map'' mentioned

above. Please submit responses to this Call in envelopes labeled

``Response to the Call for Interest and Information for Proposed

Eastern Gulf of Mexico OCS Lease Sale 181,'' addressed to the Regional

Supervisor, Leasing and Environment (MS 5400), Gulf of Mexico OCS

Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana, 70123-

2394. Responses to this Call must be received no later than 60 days

following publication of this document in the Federal Register.

Use of Information from Call

Information submitted in response to this Call will be used for

several purposes. First, responses will be used to assess industry

interest and to identify areas of potential for oil and gas

development. Second, comments on possible environmental effects and

potential use of conflicts will be considered in the analysis of

environmental conditions in and near the Call area and to develop

alternatives and mitigating measures to lessen potential environmental

impacts and ensure safe operations. And, third, comments may be used to

assess potential conflicts between offshore oil and gas activities and

a State CMP.

Existing EGOM Information

The MMS routinely assesses the status of information acquisition

efforts and the quality of the information base for potential decisions

on tentatively scheduled lease sales. An extensive environmental

studies program has been underway in the Gulf of Mexico since 1973. The

emphasis, including continuing studies, has been on environmental

characterization of biologically sensitive habitats, physical

oceanography, ocean-circulation modeling, and ecological effects of oil

and gas activities. Two documents are available from the MMS Gulf of

Mexico Region Public Information Unit:

Listing of available EGOM Study Reports (with information

for ordering copies).

Technical Summaries from Selected Environmental Studies of

the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, MMS 96-0025, 1996.

Obtaining EGOM Information

The documents and the large-sized ``Call for Information Map''

mentioned above are available from:

Gulf of Mexico Public Information Unit, Minerals Management Service,

1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New Orleans, Louisiana 70123-2394,

Telephone: (504) 736-2519 or (800) 200-GULF.

In addition, a wealth of information concerning the EGOM, the MMS

studies program, and the MMS is available on the Internet at: http://

www.mms.gov. Also, many documents may be obtained through the MMS 24-

hour Fax-on-Demand service: (202) 219-1703.

Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement--Purpose

of Notice of Intent

The MMS intends to prepare an EIS on OCS Lease Sale 181. This sale

is tentatively scheduled for 2001 and will cover Federal waters

offshore the States of Alabama and Florida. The NOI also announces the

scoping process we will use for this EIS. Throughout the scoping

process, you have the opportunity to help us determine the scope of the

Draft EIS, the significant issues to be addressed, and alternatives to

be considered.

Our EIS will evaluate the potential environmental effects of

leasing, exploration, and development of the blocks identified through

the Area Identification procedure. Alternatives to the proposal that we

may consider are to delay, cancel, or modify the sale.

What is Scoping?

Scoping is an open and early process for determining the scope of

the EIS and for identifying significant issues related to a proposed

action. Scoping also provides you an opportunity to identify additional

alternatives to the proposed action. As MMS prepares for public scoping

meetings on the EIS for OCS Lease Sale 181, we will distribute

additional information and will advertise details of the actual dates,

times, and facilities for the meetings in local media.

The National Environmental Policy Act process ends with MMS

preparing a Final EIS and making a decision on the proposed action and

alternatives. There are many opportunities for you to influence the

EIS. You may provide comments.

During the 60-day period after this NOI is published;

During public scoping meetings;

While we accept written scoping comments (We will consider

comments received during the scoping process in preparing of the Draft

EIS.); and

During a 60-day comment period after publication of the

Draft EIS; and

During public hearings on the Draft EIS (We will address

comments received during the public hearing process in the Final EIS.).

We anticipate completing the EIS in about two and one-half years.

At the end of this process, the decisionmaker will have a document that

assesses the impacts of the lease sale proposal and the alternatives to

use in making an informed decision.

How To Submit Comments

Please send your written comments on the scope of the EIS,

significant issues to be addressed, and alternatives that should be

considered to the Regional Supervisor, Leasing and Environment (MS

5400), Gulf of Mexico OCS Region, 1201 Elmwood Park Boulevard, New

Orleans, Louisiana, 70123-2394. The deadline for your submission is 60

days after this NOI is published. Clearly label your comments,

``Comments on the NOI to Prepare an EIS on the proposed 2001 Lease Sale

in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.''

Dated: January 13, 1999.

Cynthia Quarterman,

Director, Minerals Management Service.

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