Wyoming may soon own a chunk of northern Utah

Wyoming could become one of Utah’s largest mineral holders under a massive land deal the Cowboy State is exploring with a leading Western energy producer. Gov. Mark Gordon is looking to buy at least 4 million acres of mineral rights and 1 million surface acres along Interstate 80 across southern Wyoming and into northern Utah, land the debt-burdened Occidental Petroleum Corp. acquired last year when it merged with Anadarko Petroleum, Utah’s largest natural gas producer. Occidental has little appetite for developing these lands, but Wyoming’s Republican governor envisions a productive future for them if his state acquires them for “multiple use,” according to an explanation his office posted this week. “The State sees it as a rare opportunity to acquire minerals, recreation, and other types of assets in Wyoming,” the message states. “These natural resources could be developed by private companies, not the State, and provide additional revenues to the State.” Such a deal could be the nation’s largest government land acquisition since 1867, when the United States paid $7.2 million to buy Alaska from Russia. But what makes the Wyoming deal even more interesting is that the 300-mile corridor includes 190,000 acres in Colorado and about three times that amount in northern Utah...MORE