Oil and gas leases for two parcels of land in Rio Blanco County totaling 1,608.69 acres were sold today for $543,813 by the Bureau of Land Management at its quarterly lease sale.
Leases for the two parcels were sold to Treasure Resources Inc. of Windsor.
The state of Colorado will receive 49 percent of the proceeds from the sale, with the remainder going to the federal government, according to the BLM.
Colorado received more than $229.4 million in fiscal year 2010 from royalties, rentals and bonus bid payments for all federal minerals, including oil, gas and coal, according to the federal agency.
A lease is the first step for a company before eventually applying to develop and produce oil and gas from the BLM-managed public mineral estate.
According to the BLM, additional planning, environmental analysis and public input must occur before drilling can begin.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
