U.S. Bureau of Land Management held an auction of oil and gas leases in four states Jan. 14 that produced more than $4 million as companies took advantage of the final opportunity to acquire federal acreage before the inauguration of President Joe Biden, who promised to ban new drilling on public lands. Reuters said 6,851 acres were offered in the auction – most of them in the Permian Basin of New Mexico. Average bid for New Mexico acreage was $656 – far below the $5,000 per acre that sales in the state were averaging before the pandemic.
The sale included three parcels in Oklahoma and one each in Texas and Kansas. Reuters said highest bid was $1.2 million from Midland’s PBEX for 80 acres in Lea County, N.M.