The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Monday said that 31 onshore oil and natural gas auctions conducted generated $233 million for American taxpayers in fiscal year (FY) 2012.

In the FY 2012 lease sales, the Interior agency said it received bids on more than 1.4 million acres of public land in 1,707 parcels. The BLM offered 2,315 parcels of land (covering six million acres) during the year, which is 32% more than it offered in 2011 and 41% more than it offered in 2010, according to BLM.

The largest onshore oil and gas sale during FY 2012 was held in Billings, MT, in which 59 parcels covering 14,762 acres of public land brought in more than $36 million, for an average price of $2,437 per acre, the BLM said.

The BLM said it has scheduled 33 oil and gas lease sales in FY 2013, including auctions in California, Colorado, eastern states, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Alaska.

Revenues from domestic oil and gas production on public lands and federal offshore areas, totaling more than $12 billion this year, are shared among federal, state and tribal governments and represent one of the largest nontax sources of U.S. government funds. Revenue generated by BLM’s onshore parcels has more than tripled in the past three years, compared to the last 25 years, the agency said. Since 1988, the average price paid per acre was $55, while over the past three years the average has climbed to $210/acre.

Moreover, the BLM said the percentage of BLM leases protested declined in FY 2012, continuing a trend that began in 2009. It said protests were lodged on fewer than 18% of the 2,064 parcels offered for sale during the year, the lowest percentage since 2003.

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