Leases

Federal onshore oil and gas leases awarded through competitive auctions have generated substantially higher production volumes and government revenues in recent years than noncompetitive federal leases, according to new analysis by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Lease sales are conducted by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), either via auction…

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is proposing to streamline the approval process for oil and natural gas development in national forests and grasslands. The proposed rule, issued on Tuesday, is posted in the Federal Register and available for public comment until Nov. 2. The overhaul, part of a larger mandate by the Trump administration to…

The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Eastern States Office said its latest oil and gas lease sale for properties in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Ohio brought in nearly $1.4 million.

The Interior Department will try once again in August to see if its strategy of offering every available unleased area in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) to oil and gas operators is viable.

The North Dakota Supreme Court has sided with the state in a ruling against Newfield Exploration Co., now part of Encana Corp., which it said had underpaid oil and gas royalties.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is preparing a lease sale for August that again would provide region-wide access to oil and natural gas producers across an estimated 78 million acres.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management next month plans to offer 78 million acres for oil and natural gas prospecting in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), basically all available unleased areas in federal waters.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Utah reported net proceeds of slightly more than $3 million from an oil and natural gas auction this month that drew bids on 96 of 105 parcels offered.

West Virginia has filed a motion to dismiss EQT Corp.’s federal lawsuit challenging the state’s flat-rate lease statute, arguing that the state can’t be coerced by the company to reverse its laws.