Oil and Gas Lease Sale in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas Generates Nearly $139 Million

The Bureau of Land Management on Aug. 20 announced the completion of a quarterly oil and gas lease sale offering 25 parcels across New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, covering 20,000 acres of federal land, generating $139 million in total receipts.

The sale was conducted under the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which reset the minimum royalty rate for new federal onshore oil and gas production to 12.5 percent, reversing the 16.67 percent rate established under the Inflation Reduction Act. The lower rate is expected to improve project economics and support continued industry participation in future federal lease sales.

New Mexico continued to anchor the agency’s leasing program, with sales in the state generating more than $4.4 billion so far this calendar year, or roughly 90 percent of BLM’s $4.9 billion in total oil and gas leasing revenue nationwide. A lease sale held in Texas and New Mexico in May, the largest onshore federal oil and gas lease sale, generated approximately $4 billion. The first lease sale in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) since 2019, and the first under the act, yielded $163.7 million from 187 tracts covering 1.33 million acres.

The sale advances the administration’s energy priorities under Executive Order 14154, “Unleashing American Energy,” which directs federal agencies to promote domestic energy development.

Oil and gas leases issued through the sale carry a primary term of 10 years and may continue beyond that period if production occurs in paying quantities. BLM noted that all leasing and subsequent development remain subject to environmental review and other applicable statutes.