The US Bureau of Land Management’s third-quarter oil and gas lease sale in New Mexico broke records by grossing nearly $1 billion in bonus bids for 142 parcels, the US Department of the Interior agency said on Sept. 6. Revenue from the sale totaled $972,483,619.50, surpassing revenue for all BLM oil and gas sales in 2017 as well as the agency’s previous best sales year, BLM said.
BLM said the 2-day, online sale in its Carlsbad Field Office outpaced what previously was its largest sales year ever in 2008, which generated $408,631,537 of revenue. Seventy-one parcels covering 28,036 acres were sold on the first day for nearly $386 million of total receipts, more than the $358 million of revenue from all of BLM oil and gas leases sales in 2017, BLM said.
In addition to the record total bonus bids, the first day of the sale also resulted in a national record for the highest bid for a single parcel, and the highest per-acre bid ever placed, BLM said.
The winning bid for a 1,240-acre parcel in Eddy County was $81,889/acre, bringing in more than $101.5 million. The previous record for a single parcel in New Mexico was $76.68 million, set in September 2016. The previous per-acre bid record for a federal lease in the state was $40,001 set in December 2017, BLM said.
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