DENVER  On November 13, the BLM Colorado State Office sold 30 parcels of 33 offered at its quarterly oil and gas lease sale, totaling 11,903 acres. A 448-acre parcel in Garfield County sold for $10,600 per acre, netting the high bonus bid of $4.8 million for the parcel. The lease sale earned $5,951,572 in total proceeds, with 49 percent to go to the State of Colorado. 

 

The State of Colorado received $123 million in Fiscal Year 2007 from royalties, rentals and bonus bid payments for all federal minerals (including coal).

 

The November sale notice originally offered 38 parcels containing 20,163 acres. All parcels offered were protested prior to the sale. BLM deferred 5 parcels totaling 5,042 acres based on requests from the public and local government.

 

The BLM may offer lease parcels for sale with a notice that they have been protested. Leases are not issued unless the protests are resolved by the BLM.   

 

A lease authorizes a company or individual to produce oil and gas from the public mineral estate, managed by the BLM. Additional planning, environmental analysis and public input must occur before drilling can begin.