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PORTLAND -- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Oregon State Office leased 26 parcels totaling 18,530.96 acres of Federal land at its quarterly oil and gas lease sale December 1, 2006. The sale totaled $507,523.50 in revenue. At today’s oil and gas lease sale there were 160 parcels offered totaling 289,027.71 acres.

BLM lease sales are competitive and conducted by oral bidding. The remaining parcels that received no bids or offers remain available for two years to non-competitive offers. To see the quarterly oil and gas lease sale notice and the competitive bid results for the December 1, 2006 auction please go to blm.gov/or/landsrealty/oilandgas.php

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, which amended the Mineral Leasing Act, requires each BLM state office to conduct oil and gas lease sales on at least a quarterly basis. This sale was consistent with the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and with the BLM’s existing land-use plans, which guide management of all activities on BLM public lands.

Less than one percent of the acreage managed by the BLM experiences surface disturbance from oil and gas activity. To minimize such impacts (the “footprint”) on the land, the Bureau analyzes the potential environmental effects from exploration and development before offering any leases for sale. All leases come with stipulations (general requirements) on oil and gas activities to protect the environment; stipulations can also include specific restrictions, such as limits on seasons when drilling can occur and restrictions on surface occupancy by oil and gas operators.

Once an operator proposes exploration or development on a BLM-issued lease, the Bureau carries out further environmental analysis under the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and determines the site-specific need for various types of impact-limiting or "mitigation" measures. These measures include revegetation, which controls soil erosion and helps curb the spread of weeds; the strategic placement of above-ground structures and machinery, with colors that blend in with the landscape, so as to reduce visual impacts; the establishment of any necessary buffer zones so that oil and gas activity does not adversely affect certain types of wildlife habitat; and the burying of powerlines or pipelines under or adjacent to access roads to protect wildlife and minimize visual impacts. In addition, many operators routinely use Best Management Practices -- such as remote sensing to monitor well production, which minimizes surface impacts -- in conducting their oil and gas activities.

The BLM carries out its land-management mission under the authority of the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which directs the agency to manage the public lands for multiple uses while protecting the natural, historical, and other resources of these lands. Environmentally sound production of domestic energy from fossil and renewable resources is an important part of the BLM’s multiple-use mission, and energy from Federally managed sources accounts for more than 30 percent of America’s energy production.

Government estimates indicate that Federal lands contain about 68 percent of all undiscovered U.S. oil and 74 percent of undiscovered natural gas. A detailed oil and gas inventory by the Interior and Energy Departments found that Federal lands in five key Western geologic basins -- located in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico -- contain nearly 140 million trillion cubic feet of natural gas. That is enough natural gas to supply the 56 million homes now using natural gas for the next 30 years.