BILLINGS, Mont. – The Bureau of Land Management Montana/Dakotas raised $37,462 in its quarterly oil and gas lease sale held online March 24.

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 eight parcels covering nearly 5,200 acres in eastern Montana and North Dakota for oil and gas leasing through the competitive online auction. There were 19 registered bidders. All eight parcels received bids. Denbury Onshore, LLC, of Plano, Texas, was the highest bidder, with a total bid of $10,363.50 for a 1,072.16-acre parcel in Powder River County, Mont.

The BLM awards oil and gas leases for a period of 10 years, and for as long thereafter as there is production of oil and gas in paying quantities. If the leases result in producing oil or gas wells, 12.5 percent of the royalties collected is also shared between the federal government and the states.

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