BLM Lease Sale in Nevada Yields Little Interest from Oil and Gas Companies

(Reno, NV) – Today, in compliance with a court order, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) held an oil and gas lease sale in Nevada where only 50% of the acres offered for leases were scooped up by oil and gas companies– despite their months-long push for more leasing and drilling on public lands. Even worse, of the acres that did sell, half sold for the minimum bid of just $2/acre.

In Response, Russell Kuhlman, Executive Director of the Nevada Wildlife Federation released the following statement:

“Why did oil and gas CEOs spend months asking to lease more public lands and then do so little when offered leases today in Nevada? Because they know the stockpile of undeveloped leases they have is already enough. Meanwhile, they can take advantage of a broken system to get whatever they want at bargain-basement prices while Nevadans and our public lands pay a heavy price. Now the lands that didn’t sell can be leased behind closed doors for pennies on the dollar, because of an antiquated policy known as noncompetitive leasing that’s long-plagued Nevada’s public lands. It’s time to make the reforms implemented by the Biden Administration for this lease sale permanent before anymore lease sales are held, and for Congress to pass key bills like those led and supported by Senators Rosen and Cortez Masto and Congresswoman Lee to make the federal oil and gas leasing system work better for wildlife and for Nevadans.”

This was one of the first onshore lease sales the Biden administration has held since taking office. Earlier this year, the Department of the Interior announced that the Bureau of Land Management took a number of actions to improve the leasing process for this and other upcoming sales including raising the the federal onshore royalty rate for any leases sold in the sales to 18.75%, limiting leasing only to areas near existing development to reduce speculation, and avoiding offering for lease any parcels in sensitive cultural areas as well as important habitat and migration corridors. These actions by President Biden and Secretary Haaland reflect many of the important recommendations called for in the agency’s November 2021 report on the Federal Oil and Gas Leasing Program, and should be made permanent to ensure that Nevada’s public lands are managed in the best interest of all Nevadans.

Congress also has the opportunity to reform the antiquated federal oil and gas program, and Nevada’s Congressional leaders are already taking steps to protect wildlife, clean air and water, frontline communities, and taxpayers. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) sponsored the Fair Returns for Public Lands Act which would update the century-old onshore royalty rate and decades-old rental rates and minimum lease bid amount, as well as improve other important fiscal rates and terms; Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV) sponsored the End Speculative Oil and Gas Leasing Act which would reform the federal onshore oil and gas leasing program by prohibiting oil and gas leasing on lands known to possess low or no potential for development, in order to ensure better management of those lands for other, more valuable uses like wildlife habitat and outdoor recreation; and Representative Susie Lee (D-NV) sponsored the End Speculative Oil and Gas Leasing Act, the House companion to Senator Cortez Masto’s bill.

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The Nevada Wildlife Federation is a 501(c)3 and is the oldest statewide conservation organization dedicated to sustaining Nevada’s natural resources for wildlife through conservation, preservation, and education.