A scheduled oil and gas lease sale in New Mexico that was set for the morning of May 20 was postponed, according to updated information posted at EnergyNet, an online marketplace that provides commodities auction and sealed bid transaction services for the oil and gas industry.
Select conservation groups had said the auction should be postponed because of the ongoing pandemic and market conditions, but these factors have not been confirmed as the official reason for the delay. No additional information about the postponement was available, and the Bureau of Land Management did not respond to a request for additional comments.
The BLM had planned to offer 94 parcels on more than 45,000 acres in New Mexico and Texas through the online auction. The parcels are located in Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties in New Mexico; and Wise County in Texas. The auction would have been the first such sale since oil prices slid into free-fall starting in late March and stayed there throughout most of April.
According to the BLM, oil and gas leases are issued for a 10-year period and continue for as long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities. If a lessee does not produce oil and gas, fails to make annual rental payments, doesn’t comply with the terms of the lease, or relinquishes the lease, the right to develop the leasehold reverts to the federal government and the lease can be re-offered in another sale.
To contact the author, email bertie.taylor@rigzone.com.
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