| Contacts: | Donna Hummel | , 505.438.7422 |
BLM Oil and Gas Lease Sale Nets over $13 Million from Parcels in Four States
Santa Fe – A quarterly oil and gas lease sale administered by the Bureau of Land Management netted $13,298,017 in revenues today from the sale of 48 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 Courtyard by Marriott in Santa Fe; a total of 31 bidders registered for today’s auction.
Bids for 2 parcels in Texas brought in over $9.4 million; bids for 38 parcels in New Mexico brought in over $3.7 million; bids for 7 parcels in Oklahoma brought in over $69,000; and a single parcel in Kansas sold for $160.
The highest bid per acre for a parcel and the highest overall total per parcel in today’s sale was $7,500 for 1264 acres in Shelby County, Texas, by Narenta Oil Company of Santa Fe, New Mexico ($9,480,000 total).
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 is returned to the U.S. government and 48 percent goes to the state where the mineral lease occurs. New Mexico will receive $1,779,712.80 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, January 20, 2010 at the BLM’s new state office building, located at 301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Public review and comment on the parcels nominated for this sale are due October 27, 2009. A complete list of nominated parcels can be found at: www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/energy/oil_and_gas/oil_and_gas_lease/January_1010_Lease_Sale_Nominated_Parcels.html
The BLM manages more land - 253 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.