The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) raised $38 million in a Sep. 10 oil and gas lease sale that included 23 parcels in Montana and North Dakota, totaling over 7,500 acres.
The sale result reflects “a notable increase in interest by the oil and gas industry, driven in part by the development of significantly improved well economics through three-mile lateral drilling technology in the Bakken and Three Forks formations of eastern Montana,” BLM said in a release Sep. 15.
Companies will pay a 12.5% royalty rate on oil and gas production from the leases, down from 16.67%, BLM said.
Proceeds from the lease sale are shared between the federal government and the two states, BLM noted.
Cathy Landry has worked over 20 years as a journalist, including 17 years as an energy reporter with Platts News Service (now S&P Global) in Washington and London.
She has served as a wire-service reporter, general news and sports reporter for local newspapers and a feature writer for association and company publications.
Cathy has deep public policy experience, having worked 15 years in Washington energy circles.
She earned a master’s degree in government from The Johns Hopkins University and studied newspaper journalism and psychology at Syracuse University.
