BLM to Hold Federal Oil and Gas Lease Sale on April 18, 2012
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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is offering oil and gas leasing mineral rights on 28 parcels totaling 6,500 acres located on federal lands in New Mexico and Oklahoma. The oral auction will take place on Wednesday, April 18, 2012, at the BLM New Mexico State Office, 301 Dinosaur Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico.BLM representatives will be available in the lobby at 8 a.m. to allow each interested party time to obtain a bidding number. The sale will begin promptly at 9 a.m. Only oral bids offered at the sale will be accepted. Parcels will be awarded to qualified bidders offering the highest acceptable bid. The minimum acceptable bid is $2 per acre. The breakdown by state is as follows:20 parcels totaling 6,158 acres in New Mexico; and8 parcels totaling 342 acres in Oklahoma.The lease sale notice can be found at: http://www.blm.gov/nm/st/en/prog/energy/oil_and_gas/lease_sale_notices.html.Leases are awarded for a period of 10 years and as long thereafter as there is production in paying quantities. The revenue from the sale of federal leases, as well as the 12.5 percent royalties collected from the production of those leases, is shared between the federal government and the states. Fifty-two percent of the revenue generated goes to the federal government and 48% is returned to the state where leasing occurs.Over the past 10 years, New Mexico has received over $4 billion from energy production on BLM-managed federal leases, all of which has been allocated directly to public education.
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.