Target: Converse County; Oil, gas companies buying up federal leases
By JOHN CREEK Reporter Tuesday, April 8, 2008 11:18 PM Mountain
Land in Converse County appears to have become the primary target in Wyoming for energy development on federal land. During the Bureau of Land Management’s first two leasing auctions in 2008, 70 percent of total sale price of oil and gas leases statewide was spent for interests within Converse County. This is another of numerous signs that the pace of energy development in the area is booming. Preliminary success by companies such as American Oil and Gas Inc., and plans announced by Rancher Energy Corporation have heated up the land grab in the county, said Don Likwartz, state oil and gas supervisor. Already this year in Converse County, $33.7 million has been generated for leasing rights and rental fees on land parcels. The leases were offered at the BLM’s bimonthly federal oil and gas lease auction held in Cheyenne Feb. 5 and April 1, according to BLM spokesperson Sheri Morris. This represents 70 percent of the $48.5 million in sales statewide. A total of 450,000 acres were leased during the auctions, with 127,000 being leased in Converse County. The next oil and gas lease sale will be held on June 3. In fiscal year 2007, oil and gas operations on BLM-administered public lands and federal mineral estates in Wyoming produced 30,000 barrels of oil and 1.4 million cubic feet of gas, which generated $1 billion in federal oil and gas royalties. Half the royalty payments were disbursed to the state, according to the BLM.