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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is offering oil and gas leasing mineral rights on 68 parcels totaling 29,939 acres located on Federal lands in New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma. The oral auction will take place on Wednesday, January 16, 2013, 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:14 parcels totaling 4,439 acres in New Mexico;49 parcels totaling 25,233 acres in Texas; and5 parcels totaling 267 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.