RENO, Nev. - The sale notice and other documents related to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Battle Mountain District oil and gas lease sale scheduled to begin June 13 have been posted to the BLM’s website. A complete summary of the parcels to be offered, lease stipulations and other documents related to the lease sale are available at https://on.doi.gov/2hXgXsn.
The sale includes 106 parcels totaling almost 196,000 acres in the Battle Mountain District, located in Nye, Lander and Eureka counties. The previous Battle Mountain District sale was held June 14, 2016. That sale generated $54,340.00, selling 12 parcels covering 50,415.76 acres through competitive and non-competitive sales.
The on line auction sale will be hosted on www.energynet.com. The auction website is open to everyone; however, you must register as a bidder on the EnergyNet site before the sale in order to submit bids for any individual parcel.
The authority to conduct onshore oil and gas leases through internet-based bidding methods was provided by the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act. On Aug. 31, 2016, the BLM published a rule amending its regulations to fully implement this authority and give the agency the flexibility to hold either in-person or online lease sale auctions.
The oil and gas lease is for a period of 10 years with annual rentals of $1.50 per acre for the first five years and $2 per acre after that until production begins. Once a lease is producing, a royalty of 12.5 percent is charged. Half of the bid and rental receipts go to the state of Nevada.
The next oil and gas sale is scheduled for the week of Sept. 11, 2017.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management
