State lease sales hit $10M

CASPER — Oil and gas lease sale revenue from Wyoming state lands in 2022 far exceeded last year’s disappointing results, the Office of State Lands and Investments announced Wednesday. 
The three state lease sales held this year generated a total of nearly $9.8 million. More than half came from November’s auction, which took place during the first two weeks of the month and grossed just under $5.6 million — more than this year’s first two sales combined. 
Buyers from nine different states bid on 70 of the 193 available parcels, or about 18,600 of the close to 65,500 acres up for leasing, according to state officials. 
About $1.4 million from the November auction will be put toward K-12 education. 
Wyoming earned more this year from its state oil and gas leasing program than it has since 2018. The state brought in only about $1.3 million in 2021, $4.6 million in 2020 and $8.8 million in 2019. 
Its three lease sales in 2018 yielded a combined $25.2 million. 
Oil and gas prices have skyrocketed since the start of the year, driven upward by a variety of factors, including Russia’s war in Ukraine, a slow return to pre-pandemic production levels, extreme weather, supply-chain issues and staffing shortages. 
Though both have eased in recent weeks, they remain higher than at the end of 2021. 
The state’s lease sales are separate from the federal auctions that have been subject to extensive scrutiny and litigation since President Joe Biden ordered a review of the Department of the Interior’s leasing program nearly two years ago. 
Wyoming, the No. 8 oil-producing state but No. 2 on federal land, relies on money from both types of sales to support education and a variety of other state programs. 
Just one federal oil and gas lease sale has been held in Wyoming since Biden took office. It sold over 60,000 acres of federal land in the state and generated roughly $13 million, with over $6 million set to be returned to Wyoming. 
The federal government has announced plans to hold another lease sale in Wyoming during the first half of next year and is working through the lengthy review process.
 
 
This story was published on Nov. 17, 2022.