Results from a U.S. auction for drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico showed companies are willing to spend again, but expectations were low, experts said. An auction Wednesday for rights to drill into the U.S. waters of the Gulf of Mexico secured $178.1 million in high bids from 29 different companies. That’s an increase of 43 percent from the last lease sale in March. William Turner, a research analyst at consultant group Wood Mackenzie, said less acreage was on the auction block and the industry didn’t get an incentive from lower royalty rates like they wanted so expectations were low. “However, with an increase in competitive bids and dollar amount from the last round, companies demonstrated […]