An oil and natural gas lease sale conducted by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Utah office received bids on 53,763 acres of nearly 93,946 acres offered, drawing total estimated receipts of $5.95 million. BLM sold 49 of 74 parcels offered in the Green River District. Fort Worth, TX-based Lonesome Oil and Gas LLC submitted the high per-acre bid at $2,021 and the highest total bid at $2.88 million.

Colorado, Utah and Wyoming have launched the Western States Rural Natural Gas Initiative to promote infrastructure development in the Piceance, Uinta and Green River basins. The state energy directors signed a memorandum of understanding calling for a report to be ready by May on the gas market initiative for “enhancement and infrastructure.” Houston-based Consumer Energy Alliance has been retained to compile the report. The three-state initiative is seeking to form an interstate panel of governor-appointed experts to guide future gas development.