Results of the recent Gulf of Mexico lease sale are a positive indicator that oil and gas exploration and production companies have become increasingly more comfortable with the direction of the US regulatory environment and bode well for offshore oil service providers, said Global Hunter Securities (GHS) analysts.

According to The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, the Western Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 218, held December 14 in New Orleans, attracted $337,688,341 in high bids and included 20 companies submitting 241 bids on 191 tracts comprising over a million acres offshore Texas. The sum of all bids received totaled $712,725,998.

“While the number of tracts bid on came in roughly 14% below historic levels, total monies exposed of $712.7 million are the highest since 1984's $1.2 billion, and the $337.7 million sum of high bids more than doubled the most recent sale's $115.5 million and was the third highest in the past decade,” said GHS analysts in a December 15 note to investors.

The highest bidder in the auction was ConocoPhillips, which spent more than $157.8 million. Other major Gulf of Mexico leaseholders like ExxonMobil, BP, Anadarko, and Plains Exploration & Production spent over $280 million combined.

According to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, ConocoPhillips submitted the highest bid for a tract--$103,200,000 for Keathley Canyon, Block 95. ConocoPhillips was the apparent high bidder on 75 blocks, the most for any company.

GHS analysts say the positive results bode well for its offshore oil service coverage and noted that companies most likely to benefit from expanded deepwater, exploration-focused drilling include: Baker Hughes, Halliburton, Schlumberger, Dril-Quip, Oceaneering International, Ensco, Noble, Transocean, and Hornbeck Offshore.