High bids for this year’s Gulf of Mexico (GoM) oil and natural gas lease sales, held March 19, were lower than the total number of high bids from last year’s sales, but bidders still showed interest in deepwater tracts.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) said that $872 million in high bids was submitted by 43 companies for deep and shallow water, but that amount fell behind 2013’s total of more than $1 billion in high bids.

This year, companies bid on 329 tracts covering more than 1 million acres in Central Sale 231 and Western Sale 233.

Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas LLC was the highest bidder overall for the central Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) region, the BOEM said. Freeport-McMoRan Oil & Gas bid more than $322 million, the BOEM added.

About a year ago, Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (NYSE: FCX) acquired Plains E&P for $16.3 billion in cash and stock, and McMoRan Exploration Co., becoming one of the largest GoM operators.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) followed behind as second-highest bidder, having submitted more than $103 million, the BOEM said. Shell Offshore Inc., a unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc (NYSE: RDS-A, RDS-B) trailed closely behind Chevron with an even $100 million bid, the BOEM added.

Notably, BP Exploration & Production Inc. (NYSE: BP) bid more than $53 million in the central section, the BOEM said. This came after a ban that had blocked the company from seeking new drilling rights since the Deepwater Horizon incident was lifted March 14. Bloomberg News said, “The end of the suspension is a milestone in BP’s recovery from the worst U.S. oil spill, which forced it to sell about $38 billion in assets to meet the costs of cleaning up pollution and compensating victims.”

In the GoM western section Lease Sale 233, sole bidder Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) submitted a high bid of more than $21 million, the BOEM said.

Central Lease Sale 231 drew more than $850.8 million in high bids for 326 OCS blocks offshore Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, the BOEM said.

The BOEM noted that the eastern Lease Sale 225 is the first of two sales for that area to be offered since 2008 under a five-year program. The eastern sale area of 134 unleased blocks, which covered about 465,200 acres off eastern Alabama and western Florida, did not receive bids, the BOEM added.

The BOEM opened three pending bids, submitted in 2013 by a company for blocks in the western planning area Lease Sale 233, the agency said, noting that the blocks were within, or partially within, three statute miles of the maritime and continental shelf boundary with Mexico. This company bid more than $21 million for three tracts, the BOEM noted, adding that if any leases are awarded, they will be subject to terms of the U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement.

All GoM bids from the oil and natural gas lease sales will be evaluated by the BOEM, before leases are awarded, to ensure the public receives fair market value.

Offshore