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SALT LAKE CITY -- Last time the feds offered up parcels of Utah land for oil and gas leases, things got a little crazy. Tuesday morning, it appeared to go more smoothly.
Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Megan Crandall said, "No shenanigans, no monkey business or Tom-foolery."
Fifty-five of the 98 parcels that were up for auction sold Tuesday. They included 145,260 acres in the Moab, Monticello, Price, Richfield and Vernal districts.
At the Dec. 19 auction, a University of Utah student ran up the bids on several parcels and won $1.8 million in bids he had no intention of paying. That case is ongoing.
This time, the BLM made it clear ahead of time that bidders would be entering into a binding verbal contract today with the federal government. They also put a sign out front that observers would not be allowed in the auction room.
"That is done because our first priority is to our registered bidders. Regardless of who those registered bidders are, that is our first priority," Crandall said.
She says the BLM double and triple-checked the 98 parcels that went up for auction. "The truth of the matter is, we followed our due diligence," she said.
It could be years before drilling begins on the land sold Tuesday.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
