In accordance with congressional direction in the Inflation Reduction Act, the Bureau of Land Management Montana-Dakotas State Office today opened a 30-day public scoping period to receive public input on 68 oil and gas parcels totaling approximately 25,759 acres that may be included in a scheduled September 2023 lease sale.

The parcels the BLM is analyzing, as well as maps and instructions on how to comment, are available on our ePlanning website at https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2023957/510.

Future BLM lease sales will include updated fiscal provisions authorized by Congress in the Inflation Reduction Act:

• Minimum bids for all offered parcels will be $10 per acre, an increase from the $2 per acre minimum bid set in 1987;
• Royalty rates will be 16.67 percent, up from the previous minimum of 12.5 percent; and
• Rental rates will be $3 per acre for the first two years, $5 per acre for years three through eight, and $15 per acre in years nine and ten. Prior to the Inflation Reduction Act, rental rates were $1.50 per acre for the first five years and $2 per acre for each year thereafter, rates originally set in 1987.

Further information about the Inflation Reduction Act can be found in the BLM’s online fact sheet.

Original source can be found here.