At the most recent Wyoming federal lease sale, held by the Bureau of Land Management in April, the two parcels that fetched the highest bids were both in the Wind River Basin. Kerr-McGee Corp., based in Oklahoma City, bid $310 per acre for one 1,111-acre parcel in 37n-90w and $305 per acre for another 160-acre tract, in 39n-93w. Both blocks lie just outside of producing units. Kerr-McGee has been building its presence in the western U.S. since its acquisition of HS Resources, a Denver-based independent, in August 2001. Between January 2002 and April 2003, 56,000 acres of federal leases were taken in the Wind River, for an average price per acre of $23.98, says Mark Chase, a partner with Englewood, Colorado-based Premier Data Services. Presently, there are 1,870 active federal leases in the area between 31n-40n and 80w-94w, comprising 1.35 million acres. The federal government is the dominant landowner in this part of Wind River Basin, which has only limited fee lands. Of the currently active federal leases, 612 are due to expire between now and the end of 2005. In the next two Wyoming federal land sales, scheduled for July and August, 67 parcels containing 68,000 acres are coming up for bid in the Wind River Basin. "During the next two and a half years, a lot of acreage will become available in the basin," says Chase. "Companies will need to drill that acreage or it will expire." Active operators in the Wind River include Yates Petroleum, Westport Resources, Burlington Resources, Tom Brown, Bill Barrett Corp. and Samson Investment Co.
Recommended Reading
Defeating the ‘Four Horsemen’ of Flow Assurance
2024-04-18 - Service companies combine processes and techniques to mitigate the impact of paraffin, asphaltenes, hydrates and scale on production—and keep the cash flowing.
AI Poised to Break Out of its Oilfield Niche
2024-04-11 - At the AI in Oil & Gas Conference in Houston, experts talked up the benefits artificial intelligence can provide to the downstream, midstream and upstream sectors, while assuring the audience humans will still run the show.
Going with the Flow: Universities, Operators Team on Flow Assurance Research
2024-03-05 - From Icy Waterfloods to Gas Lift Slugs, operators and researchers at Texas Tech University and the Colorado School of Mines are finding ways to optimize flow assurance, reduce costs and improve wells.
Exclusive: Silixa’s Distributed Fiber Optics Solutions for E&Ps
2024-03-19 - Todd Chuckry, business development manager for Silixa, highlights the company's DScover and Carina platforms to help oil and gas operators fully understand their fiber optics treatments from start to finish in this Hart Energy Exclusive.
Oil States’ ACTIVEHub for Digitized Assets
2024-03-14 - Oil States Energy Services’ new ACTIVEHub system and ACTIVELatch help operators remotely monitor and automate frac locations for a more efficient and safer wellsite.