FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 9, 2008 

Contact: Jim Sample 303-239-3861, Jaime Gardner 303-239-3681, Mike Blakeman 719-852-6212

BLM Colorado’s May 2008 oil and gas lease sale nets $4 million

DENVER -- On May 8, the BLM Colorado State Office sold 46 parcels of 49 offered at its quarterly oil and gas lease sale, totaling 28,546 acres of public lands. The high bid, for a 160-acre parcel in Weld County, was $3,300 per acre; the high bonus bid was $528,000, for the same parcel. The lease sale earned $3,996,068 in proceeds, of which 48 percent will go to the State of Colorado. The State received $123 million in Fiscal Year 2007 from royalties, rentals and bonus bid payments for all federal minerals (including coal).

The original May sale notice listed 133 parcels; all received written protests prior to the sale. After considering the protests, BLM deferred 84 of the parcels for further review. The protests on all of the parcels are still under analysis. No leases will be issued until that process is complete.

A federal mineral lease allows for development of publically-owned minerals, subject to additional analysis and approval. A royalty of 12.5 percent is collected on federal oil and gas revenue, which is split between the United States and the State of Colorado.

-BLM-