The Bureau of Land Management Wyoming (BLM) raised more than $22 million in its June 25-26 quarterly oil and gas lease sale. The BLM received bids on 151 parcels totaling about 186,000 acres facilitating economic opportunities and infrastructure investment in local communities.
The BLM reviewed 180 parcels nominated for the sale and ultimately offered 160, totaling about 230,000 acres. We deferred 20 parcels to allow for the completion of the pending Rock Springs plan revision and to avoid potential resource conflicts.
In close coordination with the State of Wyoming, we also deferred portions of five nominated parcels that overlap State-designated migration corridors to further the purposes of Secretarial Orders 3356 and 3362, which aim to protect big game migration corridors and habitat management areas.
Leasing is the first step in the process to develop federal oil and gas resources. At this stage, the BLM applies standard terms and conditions and appropriate stipulations to each lease to protect other resources in the area. Before authorizing development on a lease, the BLM must approve a separate drilling permit based on further analysis of detailed site-specific plans and conditions.
To learn more about the sale and associated review process, visit our ePlanning website at https://go.usa.gov/xEdur. We will post a detailed results summary on the web within the coming week.
Wyoming is one of the nation’s top energy producers on public lands. In 2018, BLM Wyoming lease sales garnered nearly $117 million. About half of the revenue from Wyoming lease sales is disbursed to the State of Wyoming to fund state-determined priority projects. If a lease results in production, the associated royalties are also shared with the state.