A
total
of
48
companies
submitted
593
bids
for
the
highly
anticipated
Central
Gulf
of
Mexico
Lease
Sale
216/222,
which
will
take
place
on
Wednesday
at
the
Mercedes-Benz
Superdome
in
New
Orleans.
By
comparison,
the
most
recent
Central
Gulf
lease
sale
-
which
took
place
on
March
2010,
about
a
month
before
the
fatal
Macondo
incident
that
prompted
a
six-month
moratorium
on
offshore
drilling
-
attracted
642
bids
on
468
offshore
tracts.
Industry
advocacy
group
American
Petroleum
Institute
welcomed
the
upcoming
lease
sale
but
said
President
Barack
Obama's
proposed
five-year
offshore
leasing
plan…
