BLM Eastern States to hold online oil and gas lease sale March 22
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WASHINGTON – In keeping with the Administration’s goal of strengthening America’s energy independence, the Bureau of Land Management Eastern States will hold its quarterly online oil and gas lease sale March 22, 2018. The sale will include two parcels totaling approximately 345 acres in the Marietta Unit of the Wayne National Forest, Ohio; and three parcels totaling approximately 140 acres of split estate (private surface, federally-owned minerals) in White and Van Buren Counties, Arkansas.
The online auction will begin at 8 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on www.EnergyNet.com. Each parcel will have its own unique open bidding period with start and stop times clearly identified on the auction website. The open bidding period for each parcel will run for three hours from start to finish, and bids will be accepted only during a parcel’s open bidding period. The auction website is open to everyone; however, you must register as a bidder on the EnergyNet site before the sale in order to submit bids for any individual parcel.
The public may protest any of the parcels being offered in the sale until February 20, 2018. Protests must be submitted via postal service, postmarked by the due date, and sent to the BLM Eastern States Office, Attention: State Director, 20 M Street SE, Suite 950, Washington, D.C. 20003; or by fax to: 202-912-7798. Protests may not be e-mailed or hand-delivered. The sale notice, environmental assessments, maps of the parcels, and the attached stipulations are linked at the BLM Eastern States website here: https://www.blm.gov/programs/energy-and-minerals/oil-and-gas/leasing/regional-lease-sales/eastern-states.
Oil and gas leases sales support domestic energy production and American energy independence. The BLM’s energy program follows an all-of-the-above approach that includes oil and gas, coal, strategic minerals and renewable sources, all of which can be developed on public lands.
Oil and gas leases are awarded for a term of ten years and as long thereafter as there is production of oil and gas in paying quantities. The Federal government receives a royalty of 12 and one-half percent of the value of production. Each state government receives a 25 percent minimum share of the bonus bid and the royalty revenue from each lease issued in that state.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.