The Michigan Department of Natural Resources auctioned off state-owned oil and natural gas drilling rights on more than 90,000 acres yesterday.
Here’s a recap of the auction results:
- Total acres up for auction: 108,164.70
- Total acres leased: 91,225.42
- Total money raised: $4,118,848.60
- Average bid per acre: $39.90
These auctions are typically held twice per year, in May and October.
The money raised from these biannual auctions has been steadily increasing since 2000, hitting peaks in 2008 and 2010.
In the first auction of 2008, the state leased all of the 149,000 available acres for more than $13 million. The last time the state had a 100 percent lease rate was in 1981.
The first auction in 2010 had a 99.6 percent lease rate and raised an unprecedented amount: more than $178 million.
The average bid per acre for that auction was $1,507, which far exceeds the average bids at any other auctions over the last 10 years, all of which have been under $100.
-Suzanne Jacobs, Michigan Radio Newsroom
