| Contacts: | Donna Hummel | , 505.438.7422 |
BLM Oil and Gas Lease Sale Nets over $7.8 Million
Santa Fe – A quarterly oil and gas lease sale administered by the Bureau of Land Management netted $7,894,551in revenues today from the sale of 74 federal leases in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas. The total includes bonus bids, administrative fees and first-year rentals. The oral auction took place at the BLM’s State Office Building in Santa Fe; a total of 53 bidders registered for today’s auction.
In New Mexico, bids for 37 parcels brought in over $2.3 million; in Oklahoma, bids for 4 parcels brought in over $81,000; in Texas, bids for 14 parcels brought in just over $5.4 million, and in Kansas 7 parcels brought in $8,074. No bids were received for 12 parcels; 5 parcels in New Mexico, 4 in Texas, 2 in Oklahoma, and one parcel failed to sell in Kansas.
The highest bid per acre for a parcel in today’s sale was $5,100 for 80 acres in Eddy County, New Mexico, by Marbob Energy Corporation of Artesia, New Mexico ($408,000 total). The highest overall total per parcel was $3,824,820 for 786 acres ($4,860 per acre) in Shelby County, Texas by J Bar Cane, Inc. of Stanley, New Mexico.
Leases are awarded for a period of 10 years and as long thereafter as there is production in paying quantities. The government receives 12.5 percent royalties on production from those leases. Fifty-two percent of the revenues from federal lease sales are returned to the U.S. government and 48 percent go to the state where the mineral lease occurs. New Mexico will receive over $1.1 million from today’s sale.
The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 and the 1987 Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act authorize leasing of federal oil and gas resources. The 1987 law requires each BLM state office to conduct oil and gas lease sales on at least a quarterly basis. BLM lease sales are competitive and conducted by oral bidding.
The next BLM federal oil and gas lease sale is scheduled for Wednesday, October 21, 2009 at the Courtyard by Marriott, 3347 Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Public review and comment on the parcels nominated for this sale are due July 27, 2009. A complete list of nominated parcels can be found at: www.blm.gov/nm
The BLM manages more land - over 245 million acres - than any other Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The Bureau, with a budget of about $1 billion, also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. 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.