This story is part of our Quick Hits series. This series will bring you breaking news and short updates from throughout the state.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is holding an additional oil and gas lease sale this year in an unusual move. The status quo is four annual sales, one every quarter.
But a new provision in the July GOP policy bill has a caveat. If 25% of parcels go without a bid in a quarterly sale, there must be an additional opportunity to offer them up in the same fiscal year.
In the BLM’s fourth quarter oil and gas lease sale in Wyoming, about a third of the acreage had no industry interest. Many of the areas that went without a bid were in Campbell County.
In the early December sale, 86 parcels were offered up, with 52 receiving a bid. In acreage, respectively, that was 79,168.68 acres offered and 53,118.58 acres leased.
The remaining 26,050.1 acres will be offered up again in the bonus lease sale on Dec. 30.
In previous federal oil and gas lease sales that garnered a lack of bids, some conservation groups and economists said it was an indication of a lack of market interest.
