BILLINGS, Mont. – A Bismarck company was the highest bidder in the Bureau of Land Management Montana-Dakotas oil and gas lease sale held online Dec. 18.

Cody Exploration LLC had a total bid of $50,377.50 for a 150.14-acre parcel in Williams County.

The BLM raised $191,912.50 in its quarterly oil and gas lease sale. Nearly 50 percent of the revenue from the sale will go to the states where the oil and gas activity occurs, in this case Montana and North Dakota, while the rest will go to the U.S. Treasury.

For this sale, BLM offered 20 parcels covering nearly 18,900 acres in Montana and North Dakota for oil and gas leasing through the competitive online auction. There were 23 registered bidders. Fourteen parcels received bids.

The BLM generated a record $1.1 billion from 28 oil and gas lease sales in fiscal year 2018.