Since 1982, the federal government has offered more than 225 million acres of public and private land for lease to gas and oil companies. In the Western states, there are approximately 35 million acres of active leases, nearly half of which are in Wyoming. New Mexico, Colorado and Montana each contain more than 4 million acres of active leases. Leases are divided between federal land and “split estate” lands, where federally owned mineral leases underlie private land. Leases last for 10 years, but can be extended if diligent drilling operations are in progress or other conditions are met.
Breakdown of number of acres leased by state:
Wyoming: 13,953,982
New Mexico: 5,437,977
Colorado: 4,607,692
Montana: 4,210,799
Utah: 3,765,316
Nevada: 2,046,377
Washington: 366,924
California: 299,836
Arizona: 105,020
Oregon: 43,000
Idaho: 5,015
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Energy Colonizes the West.
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