On Thursday December 17th, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held three oil and gas lease sales in four states—Wyoming, Colorado, Arkansas and Mississippi. And the results are unsurprisingly dismal given the state of the industry and the economy in the pandemic. More than 100,000 acres of federal lands were sold for the minimum bid amount, $2/acre, which was set decades ago and is in dire need of reform. The Trump administration’s effort to auction off as many federal lands as possible is making taxpayers lose out on valuable sale revenues.  

In total, the Bureau of Land Management auctioned off 219 parcels covering almost 210,000 acres of federal lands for companies to develop oil and gas.

Wyoming: 

In Wyoming, 262 parcels covering 275,541 acres of federal lands were offered for oil and gas leasing. But only 180 parcels covering 165,594 acres, or 60% of total acres offered were bid on, which is low compared to the 2015-2019 average of 87%. Average bid per acre of $32.50 is also extremely low compared to the 2015-2019 average of $170/acre. 81% of acres were leased for $10 or less and 54% of acres were leased for the $2 minimum amount.  

Colorado:

In Colorado, of the 42 parcels of land covering 47,445 acres offered, 32 parcels covering 43,438 acres were sold. Total bids add up to $559,947, or an average of $12.89 per acre, which is extremely low compared to the 2015-2019 average of $138 per acre. 

Eastern States 

The BLM Easter States Office put up 5 parcels or 419 acres for sale in Arkansas, and 10 parcels or 1,075 acres for sale in Mississippi. Out of a total of 15 parcels offered, only 5 were bid on, and 4 of which were bid for the legal minimum amount, $2/acre.  

Complete results reported in the table below: 

Results from BLM sales in WY, CO, AR, MS on Dec 17th, 2020