Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/92482 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
CSIO Working Paper No. 0101
Publisher: 
Northwestern University, Center for the Study of Industrial Organization (CSIO), Evanston, IL
Abstract: 
This paper describes an ongoing research project, in which we examine recent trends in bidding for offshore oil and gas leases, and the exploration and development of leases after they are sold. We review empirical findings regarding bidder participation and bidding for the period 1954 through 1982. In 1983, the MMS adopted Area Wide Leasing (AWL), which dramatically changed the bidding environment. We provide an initial analysis of the post-1982 data, documenting a number of significant changes in behavior and outcomes. Bidding has been much less aggressive recently in comparison with the early years of the leasing program, in terms of both the number of bids submitted and the level of the submitted bids. This descriptive evidence leads to a number of questions, and we discuss a number of changes in the bidding environment since 1982, which may offer partial explanations of the observed changes.
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
107.65 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.