Bidders gather for Colorado oil, gas lease auction

By The AP
Thursday, February 17, 2011

DENVER — A few dozen bidders are gathering for the Colorado State Land Board’s latest quarterly auction of leases on land for oil and gas development.

The board has more than 100 parcels around the state listed for auction today.

Interest in the auction has been high because of industry excitement over the Niobrara shale under parts of northeast Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and Kansas.

In August, a State Land Board auction drew a bid of $4,000 per acre for 480 acres in Weld County in northeast Colorado, setting a state oil and gas lease auction record.

The State Land Board manages more than 4 million acres of mineral rights that the federal government granted to Colorado to generate money for schools and other institutions.