A Biden administration oil and gas lease sale in Wyoming brought in $5 million Thursday, adding to federal funds from several summer energy auctions held by the Interior Department.
The largest single winning bid — more than $2 million — was for 1,300 acres in the state’s prolific Powder River Basin oil play. Overall the sale’s proceeds were modest compared with historic highs set in previous auctions in the oil- and gas-rich state. About 84 percent of the land offered in the auction was sold, totaling about 8,500 acres.
The White House also held a sale in New Mexico earlier this month that brought in $34 million and an auction in Nevada on Tuesday that no one showed up for.
The Biden administration has scaled back oil and gas leasing to curtail drilling on public lands, sparking fights with Republican lawmakers. The GOP’s House spending bill released Thursday would order the White House to hold quarterly auctions for drilling rights on public lands.