This week’s Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease auction in Cheyenne made a record amount of revenue.
The Wyoming BLM generated more than 49 million dollars from lease sales on 74 parcels of land, and an unheard-of 8 million dollars came from a single parcel.
An agency spokeswoman says the number of parcels auction off is determined by the number of nominations submitted from energy companies. In February, BLM auctioned off 31 parcels and in May, only 14.
Bruce Hinchey of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming said he was glad to see an increase in parcels auctioned.
“That bodes well for companies and not only for the state, but also for the federal government, because they’re gonna get more revenue. But it’s also good for the citizens of the county because more production will occur that creates jobs, and we are buying product that is developed within the country rather than being imported from overseas.”
The state and federal governments will split revenue from the lease sales, and they will also share royalties from oil and gas produced on the land.