UPDATE 2-U.S. Gulf lease sale attracts $105 mln bid

(Recasts, updates with other bids, adds details)

NEW ORLEANS, March 19 (Reuters) - A partnership including Anadarko and Murphy bid $105 million for a deepwater oil exploration tract in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday.

The apparent high bid for Green Canyon Block 432 came in U.S. Minerals Managenemnt Service Sale 206 in the central U.S. Gulf.

The bid topped other high bids, including Chevron USA Inc's (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) apparent high bid of $81 million for Green Canyon Block 945.

In other high apparent winners, Hess Corp (HES.N: Quote, Profile, Research) bid $61 million for Garden Banks 825, Chevron $55 million for Green Canyon Block 944 and BP Exploration and Production $47 million for Mississippi Canyon Block 339.

Companies showed strong interest in deepwater tracts in Garden Banks, Mississippi Canyon and Green Canyon, with numerous bids in the tens of millions of dollars.

"There's a vibrancy here. You can feel it in the room," said U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, who introduced Sale 206 and read the bids.

Also held Wednesday was Sale 224 in the Eastern Gulf. It attracted 58 bids from five companies for 36 offered tracts, MMS said.

The Eastern Gulf sale is the first offering states bordering the leased area 37.5 percent of revenues generated from newly leased acreage.