| Contacts: | Stephen Baker | , 505.954.2022 |
BLM Oil and Gas Lease Sale Nets over $4.2 Million from Parcels in Two States
Santa Fe – A quarterly oil and gas lease sale administered by the Bureau of Land Management netted $4,296,533 in revenues today from the sale of 14 federal leases in New Mexico and Oklahoma. The total includes bonus bids, administrative fees, and first-year rentals. The oral auction took place at the BLM’s New Mexico State Office in Santa Fe. A total of 21 bidders registered for today’s auction.
Bids for 12 parcels in New Mexico brought in over $4.1 million, and bids for two parcels in Oklahoma brought in $115,160.
The highest bid per parcel and per acre was $1,888,625 (320 acres for $5,900/acre) in Lea County, New Mexico, by Ronald Miles.
Leases are awarded for a period of 10 years and as long thereafter as there is production in paying quantities. The federal 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 $2,004,638 from today’s sale. Since 2005, New Mexico has received over $2.7 billion from BLM-managed federal leases.
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, July 20, 2011, at the BLM’s New Mexico State Office, located at 301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico. For information about upcoming lease sales and how to comment on nominated parcels, visit www.blm.gov/nm/oilandgas.
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.