CASPER, Wyo. — The Bureau of Land Management Wyoming says that their quarterly oil and gas lease sale raised about $6.99 million.
The sale took place Dec. 15-17, according to BLM Wyoming. Bids were received for 181 of 263 parcels on offer, totalling 165,754 acres.
“Leasing is the first step in the process to develop federal oil and gas resources, and it does not authorize drilling or construction,” BLM Wyoming says. “At this stage, we apply standard terms and conditions and appropriate stipulations to each lease to protect other resources in the area.”
“Before an operator can begin developing a lease, we must approve a separate drilling permit based on further analysis of detailed site-specific plans and conditions. The BLM deferred nominated parcels in priority sage-grouse habitat from the December lease sale.”
Oil and gas lease sales brought in about $117 million in 2018, according to BLM Wyoming. About half that revenue is given to the State of Wyoming “to fund state-determined priority projects.”
“If a lease results in production, the associated royalties are also shared with the state,” BLM Wyoming said.
This article originally appeared on Oil City News. Used with permission.
