ConocoPhillips Makes Winning Bid For GoM Block

ConocoPhillips

, the third-largest U.S. oil company, bid $103.2 million for the Keathley Canyon Block 95 in the Gulf of Mexico, topping bids made by several of the company's biggest rivals. That was the highest bid in the first U.S. Gulf of Mexico lease sale since the April 2010 spill that became the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Located about 250 miles south of New Orleans, Keathley Canyon is believed to be home to 700 million barrels of recoverable crude reserves, perhaps more. Other companies operating in the area include Exxon Mobil

and Chevron

, the two largest U.S. oil companies, and Royal Dutch Shell

and BP

, Europe's two biggest oil companies. Texas-based ConocoPhillips topped bids from Shell and BP, among others. Exxon and Anadarko Petroluem

, the second-largest U.S. independent oil and natural gas producer, bid for other blocks offered in the auction conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.