BLM Readies First Online Oil and Gas Lease Sale
Organization
BLM Office:
Media Contact:
The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Eastern States Office will be the first BLM office to hold an online oil and gas lease sale under new authority provided by Congress.
As announced earlier this year, the online auction will begin at 9:30 a.m. EDT on September 20 on the EnergyNet site (www.EnergyNet.com). Just like with BLM’s in-person sales, each parcel will have its own unique open bidding period. The bidding process itself expected to last a total of three hours.
The BLM list of parcels for this sale currently identifies 14 parcels available for lease in Kentucky and Mississippi, totaling 4,398 acres of Federal mineral estate. Thirteen parcels (4,214.48 acres) are located in the Homochitto and Bienville National Forests in Mississippi and one parcel (184 acres) is underlying Army Corps of Engineers-managed lands in Kentucky.
The authority to conduct onshore oil and gas leases through internet-based bidding methods was provided by the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. On August 31, the BLM published a rule amending its regulations to fully implement this authority and give the agency the flexibility to hold either in-person or online lease sale auctions. Seven state agencies use EnergyNet for online sales of state parcels.
The auction website is open to everyone; however, you must register as a bidder on the site before the sale in order to submit bids for any individual parcel. The website is active and available for registration and will remain available for viewing until the completion of the auction. The website contains detailed information about the bidding process.
For more details about the online bidding process and to view the parcel list, please see the sale notice at the BLM website.
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.