| Contacts: | Jim Sample 303-239-3861 |
BLM oil and gas lease sale nets $112,969
DENVER - Today, the BLM Colorado State Office sold 11 parcels of 58 offered at its quarterly oil and gas lease sale, totaling 6,043 acres. The highest per-acre price was for a 81-acre parcel in Rio Blanco County that sold to Exxon Mobil Corp. for $215 per acre. The high bonus bid of $39,424 was made by Yates Petroleum Corp. for a parcel of 2,464 acres in Garfield County. Overall, the lease sale earned $112,969 in total proceeds, with 49 percent to go to the State of Colorado.
The State of Colorado received $261.5 million in Fiscal Year 2008 from royalties, rentals and bonus bid payments for all federal minerals (including coal).
A lease authorizes a company or individual to produce oil and gas from the public mineral estate, managed by the BLM. Additional planning, environmental analysis and public input must occur before drilling can begin.
For complete sale results, click here.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
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