MMS awards deepwater royalty relief to Mariner

The U. S. Department of the Interior's MMS has announced that deepwater royalty relief has been granted to Mariner Energy, Inc., to develop the Mississippi Canyon Block 718 Field offshore Louisiana. Royalties will be suspended on the first 87.5 mm boe produced from the field, nicknamed Pluto.
The Mississippi Canyon Block 718 Field is in 2,710 feet of water, about 125 miles south-east of New Orleans. Mariner operates the leases in the Mississippi Canyon Block 718 Field, which also consists of Mississippi Canyon Block 674.
The DWRRA, signed by President Clinton in November 1995, allows the Secretary of the Interior to grant royalty suspension volumes on both producing and non-producing fields in water deeper than 200 meters to promote development, increase production, or encourage marginal production of Gulf of Mexico leases lying west of 87 degrees, 30 minutes West longitude.
Since 1995, MMS has granted requests for deepwater royalty relief for three other fields in the Gulf.