On June 27, 2024, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), under the Department of the Interior (DOI), held an auction for oil and gas leases on federal land in Wyoming. The sale offered 18 parcels, totaling 10,155 acres. This was the sixth lease sale held by BLM in 2024, with sales previously held in Wyoming, North Dakota, Mississippi, Montana and North Dakota, Kansas and New Mexico, and a sale held earlier this week in Nevada.

This latest sale resulted in 15 parcels, comprising 8,533 acres, being leased for oil and gas development. This represents 84 percent of the acreage at the auction. The sale’s average bid per acre of $587.39/acre was higher than the 2016-2020 average but lower than the previous lease sale held in Wyoming earlier this year ($763.61/acre). More than half of the acres leased today were sold for the statutory minimum bid of $10/acre. Of the acres sold, eight of the 15 parcels were leased for the statutory minimum bid of $10/acre, representing 62 percent of the total acreage sold. The average bid per acre was higher than the 2016 to 2020 average, totaling $587.39 per acre, compared with the average of $170.34 in that period. This was due in part to several parcels commanding a bid price of over $1,000/acre. In total, the sale produced $5,040,891 in revenue which will be shared between state and federal taxpayers.

Leases sold today come with leasing terms that reflect critical reforms enacted by Congress in 2022 and codified by the DOI in April, including:

• A federal onshore royalty rate of 16.67% (raised from 12.5%)
• Rental rates of $3/acre for the first 2 years, $5/acre for years 3-8, and no less than $15/acre for years 9-10 (raised from $1.50/acre for years 1-5 and $2/acre for years 5-9)
• Minimum bid of $10/acre (raised from $2/acre)

• Updates to bonding rates set in 1960 to better reflect market rates and protect taxpayers from future cleanup liabilities

Recent leasing reforms will better protect taxpayers from future reclamation costs and generate more revenue for federal and state taxpayers, particularly in states with significant oil and gas production like Wyoming. From FY2013 to FY2022, production in Wyoming accounted for 17% of oil and 40% of natural gas extracted from federal lands. Had the current royalty rate of 16.7% been applied to oil and gas produced over this period, instead of the old, outdated rate of 12.5%, taxpayers would have received an additional $2.4 billion in revenue. Other recent changes, like updated bonding minimums, will also protect taxpayers against the $87.5 million in potential reclamation liabilities from currently under-bonded oil and gas wells on federal land in the state.

These reforms are an important step in securing a fair return for taxpayers and ensuring we are not left with long-term liabilities.