U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the Central Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 208, held Wednesday in New Orleans, attracted more than $703 million in high bids.

The sale was conducted by Interior's Minerals Management Service, or MMS, and had 70 companies submitting 476 bids on 348 tracts comprising over 1.9 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

"The responsible energy development resulting from today's sale will be a part of our nation's comprehensive energy plan," said Salazar, who was speaking to reporters after the sale.

The highest bid received on a tract was $65.6 million submitted by Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc., a unit of Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), for Mississippi Canyon, Block 721. Shell was also the company that offered the highest amount of money, totaling more than $153 million. It was followed by BP PLC (BP) offering more than $77 million, Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) with more than $62 million and Nobel Energy Inc. (NBL) with more than $55 million.

The total amount of money that MMS would collect from this Central Gulf Lease sale is lower than last year, which attracted 78 companies and collected a record $3.7 billion, amid booming prices for oil and gas.

MMS officials said the main reason why the sale attracted fewer companies and less money was because some of the prospects are less attractive for oil companies and are mainly in shallow waters. Official said that one surprise from the sale was to see major oil companies coming back to bid for blocks in Gulf of Mexico shale, a sign of their interest in produce natural gas.

-By Isabel Ordonez, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-314-6090; isabel.ordonez@dowjones.com