Land

Responding to protests from the governor and environmental groups, the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) office in Wyoming pulled 13 of the 229 parcels scheduled to be auctioned Tuesday. The 13 parcels encompass about 28,500 acres in the Upper North Platte Valley near Encampment and Saratoga, WY.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which had received a flurry of protests calling for the removal of nearly all 172 parcels from an upcoming oil and gas lease sale in Colorado, said last Tuesday it will defer 37 of the parcels “in order to conduct additional analysis and public outreach with local communities.”

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which had received a flurry of protests calling for the removal of nearly all 172 parcels from an upcoming oil and gas lease sale in Colorado, said Tuesday it will defer 37 of the parcels “in order to conduct additional analysis and public outreach with local communities.”

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Utah office has canceled its Nov. 13 oil and natural gas lease sale so it can take a closer look at what impact drilling on the sale properties would have on wildlife habitat.

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Utah office has canceled its Nov. 13 oil and natural gas lease sale so it can take a closer look at what impact drilling on the sale properties would have on wildlife habitat.

Denver-based St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. said it closed the previously announced $153 million acquisition of oil and gas properties in South Texas from Tulsa, OK-based Rockford Energy Partners II LLC. The acquired properties target natural gas in the Olmos formation. The net cash paid at closing was $151 million and the acquisition was funded with cash on hand and borrowings under the company’s existing credit facility. “Together with our existing assets in the area, we now have a sizable platform from which to grow our business in South Texas,” said St. Mary CEO Tony Best. “We continue to work on building our drilling inventory throughout the company.” The company has been active on the asset acquisition and sale front in recent years. In late 2006, St. Mary closed on a deal to acquire West Texas oil and gas assets from several undisclosed private parties for $250 million cash (see NGI, Nov. 6, 2006). Earlier this year, the company paid $29.5 million for assets targeting the Olmos shallow gas formation in the Catarina Field in Webb and Dimmit counties, TX (see NGI, June 18). Last month, the company contracted Albrecht & Associates Inc. to market a package of nonstrategic oil and gas properties located primarily in the Rockies and Midcontinent regions (see NGI, Sept. 17). The package represents approximately 74 Bcfe of proved oil and gas reserves.

Denver-based St. Mary Land & Exploration Co. said it closed the previously announced $153 million acquisition of oil and gas properties in South Texas from Tulsa, OK-based Rockford Energy Partners II LLC. The acquired properties target natural gas in the Olmos formation. The net cash paid at closing was $151 million and the acquisition was funded with cash on hand and borrowings under the company’s existing credit facility. “Together with our existing assets in the area, we now have a sizable platform from which to grow our business in South Texas,” said St. Mary CEO Tony Best. “We continue to work on building our drilling inventory throughout the company.” The company has been active on the asset acquisition and sale front in recent years. In late 2006, St. Mary closed on a deal to acquire West Texas oil and gas assets from several undisclosed private parties for $250 million cash (see Daily GPI, Nov. 3, 2006). Earlier this year, the company paid $29.5 million for assets targeting the Olmos shallow gas formation in the Catarina Field in Webb and Dimmit counties, TX. Last month, the company contracted Albrecht & Associates Inc. to market a package of nonstrategic oil and gas properties located primarily in the Rockies and Midcontinent regions. The package represents approximately 74 Bcfe of proved oil and gas reserves.

The Wyoming office of the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on Tuesday will offer a total of 162,476 acres in 184 state parcels for lease in an oral oil and natural gas auction.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Alaska is cautiously moving ahead on a plan that could lead to oil and natural gas leasing in an environmentally sensitive corner of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska (NPR-A) by late next year.