Experts Anticipating a Successful Oil and Gas Sale

Experts are predicting the June 20th oil and gas lease-sale will be a success. Stone Energy CEO David Welch says he plans on attending the lease-sale because he believes it's an opportunity to discover oil and gas. "It's a big deal because we haven't had a lease sale in the central Gulf of Mexico since the Macondo incident, and people need to have leases in order to have places to drill wells," Welch said.

He says the lease-sale is the beginning of a chain reaction, starting with companies buying leases. They'll end up drilling wells and the trickle-down effect will be a boom for the industry.

"Companies that own drilling rigs will deploy those, and companies that build platforms will be building platforms and facilities. Companies that will be operating facilities will be operating them for decades to come," he said.

While some companies are undecided whether they'll participate, Welch predicts dozens of them throughout the state will take part in the sale. One reason is because federal officials have made it easier to get drilling permits. Another is because of the lease sale's location.

"The central Gulf of Mexico is an oil prone area," Welch said.

President of Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association Chris John says the lease-sale is a step closer to getting the industry back to where it was before the Macondo blowout. "We're really looking forward to this lease-sale, I think this will be a really good barometer of where we are in the Gulf of Mexico," John said.