BLM issued 79% fewer US West energy leases than five years ago

The US Bureau of Land Management issued 79% fewer leases for oil and natural gas development in six US Western states in fiscal year 2010 than it issued in FY 2005, according to data released Thursday by the Western Energy Alliance. Revenue from federal leases in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming dropped 46% over the same period, WEA said in a statement. The Alliance released the leasing information as part of its Western Oil and Natural Gas Dashboard, a compilation of federal government data related to oil and gas development on public lands in the West, posted on the WEA website. The data collected from BLM offices across the West shows that the agency issued 531 leases in FY 2010, a 79% drop from the 2,499 leases issued in FY 2005. In addition, since FY 2005, the BLM has offered 60% fewer parcels and 70% fewer acres for lease, the WEA said. Other data reveal the impact of the decrease of leasing from five years ago. Federal leasing revenue from the six states dropped about 45%, to $101.6 million in FY 2010 from $189.6 million in FY 2005. Leasing activity has slowed dramatically under the Obama administration, the WEA reports. n the first two years of the Obama administration, BLM issued 76% fewer acres than the first two years of the Clinton administration, and 71% fewer acres than the first two years of the Bush administration," the WEA said...more