Petroleum News staff attending the Chukchi Sea lease sale in Anchorage this morning say the U.S. Minerals Management Service has drawn 667 bids, a record number for Alaska's outer continental shelf. MMS officials estimate it will take four hours to read all of the bids.
So far Shell is the top bidder with a $51 million bid for a tract that appears to include the Popcorn and Crackerjack wells. 
One hour into the sale, the only other two bidders so far were Repsol and ConocoPhillips.


Note: See full story in the Feb. 10 edition of Petroleum News, which will be available online to subscribers this coming Friday, Feb. 8, at www.PetroleumNews.com