Wyoming oil & gas auction hauls in $8.45M under new lower royalty rules

The Bureau of Land Management’s latest quarterly oil and gas lease sale in Wyoming pulled in $8,450,944, leasing 32 parcels across 39,225 acres. The cash — made up of bonus bids and rentals — will be split between the federal government and the State of Wyoming.

This sale ran under the new One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which reset the federal onshore royalty rate for new production to a minimum of 12.5%, rolling back the 16.67% rate set by the Inflation Reduction Act. By trimming the royalty take, the law lowers costs for companies operating on public lands — something industry backers say could nudge more leasing and drilling, boosting domestic output and, by extension, US energy security.

BLM frames the leasing program as a pillar of domestic energy supply and “American energy independence,” aligning it with Executive Order 14154, “Unleashing American Energy.” Leasing is just the opening move, though: any development still has to clear environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act and other laws.

Winning leases run for 10 years and continue as long as they produce in paying quantities. Results and documents for this sale — and upcoming auctions — are posted in the National Fluid Lease Sale System. Bidding is conducted online via EnergyNet; to see specifics, filter to the sale and hit “View Sale Documents.”