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As part of President Obama's all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Utah held a quarterly oil and gas lease sale that offered 35 parcels covering 44,021 acres of federal land in the Price and Vernal Field Offices. The BLM sold 29 of the offered parcels, receiving $3,340,266.50 in bonus bids. The sale also brought in $54,724.50 in rental fees and $4,495 in administrative fees, grossing $3,399,486 in total receipts. Finley Resources, Inc. of Fort Worth, Tex., submitted the highest total bid per acre for parcel number 586, covering 80 acres in Uintah County, as well as the highest total bid per parcel, $1,830,000 for parcel number 587 covering 183 acres in Uintah County. The State of Utah, which receives 49 percent of the bonus bids and rental fees received from BLM-Utah oil and gas lease sales, shares these funds with the counties where leased lands are located. The remaining 51 percent of the bonus bids and rental fees goes to the U.S. Treasury. “In the year leading up to today's sale, we conducted in-depth environmental analysis and offered opportunities for public participation as part of our continued national leasing reform implementation efforts," said BLM-Utah State Director Juan Palma. "The combination of thorough environmental analysis and public participation helps us ensure that energy resources on Utah's public lands are responsibly developed in the right places and in the right ways.  In Fiscal_Year (FY) 2012, the State of Utah received more than $164 million from royalties, rentals and bonus bid payments for federal minerals and energy development, including oil and gas. The BLM-Utah State Office currently administers approximately 3.9 million acres of public mineral estate that is leased for oil and gas development. The extraction of oil and gas resources and their introduction into the market generated more than $5.5 billion in direct economic benefits and more than $8.3 billion in total economic impacts in FY2012. Since FY2010, the extraction and development of oil and gas from BLM-administered mineral estate in Utah has generated $15.1 billion in direct economic benefits and $22.7 billion in total economic impacts. To date in Calendar Year 2013, the BLM has conducted 27 of 30 scheduled lease sales the Bureau plans to hold around the nation. Sales so far this year have offered 1,828 parcels covering 5,430,298 acres; 1,132 of these parcels, encompassing 981,315 acres, have been sold generating $188.4 million in bonus bids and rental fees for the U.S. Treasury and the states and counties where the leases are located. Winning an oil and gas lease is an early step in the process to develop and produce oil and gas from BLM-managed public mineral estate. After a sold lease is issued, the lessee submits an application for permit to drill, which requires additional site-specific planning, environmental analysis, and public input before any drilling can begin. All sold leases are issued with site-specific conditions on oil and gas development activities; these conditions can include limits on when drilling can occur or restrictions on surface activities. In addition, many operators use best management practices, such as remote monitoring of producing wells, to minimize surface impact. The scheduled BLM-Utah March 2014 oil and gas lease sale for the Canyon Country District will be combined with the scheduled May 2014 oil and gas lease sale for the Color Country District. Due to delays associated with the recent federal government shutdown, BLM-Utah could not complete and post the environmental assessment on the date required to meet leasing reform timing deadlines. The BLM Utah plans to release environmental assessments (EAs) for the now-combined May 2014 sale on Dec. 20, 2013. Posting the EAs will initiate a 30-day public review and comment period. Additional information regarding competitive sale lists, detailed results of oil and gas lease sales, or the leasing process is available by writing to: Bureau of Land Management, 440 West 200 South, Ste. 500, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101; or by visiting: http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/prog/energy/oil_and_gas/oil_and_gas_lease.html. November 2013 Utah Oil and Gas Lease Sale Results Summary Parcels Offered for Auction 35 Parcels Sold 29 % Parcels Sold 83% Acres Offered 44,021 Acres Sold 36,475 % Acres Sold 83% Average Bid/Acre Sold $91.58 Average Bid/Parcel Sold $115,181.60 Highest Bid/Acre $12,000.00 Parcel with High Bid/Acre 586 Highest Bid/Parcel $1,830,000.00 Parcel with High Total Bid 587 Total Bonus Bid $3,340,266.50 Total Rental Due $54,724.50 Total Administrative Fees Due $4,495.00 Total Receipts Due** $3,399,486.00 **Total Receipts Due includes bonus bids, first year's rental and administrative fees.