BLM offers oil and gas leases — Lawmakers to consider federal mineral legislation
BUFFALO — The Bureau of Land Management is set to auction 14 Johnson County parcels for potential oil and gas development later this year.
The public scoping period for the September 2026 lease sale is open until Feb. 23, meaning members of the public can examine the parcel list and map and submit comments until then.
In all, the agency is seeking public input on 271 parcels totaling 357,358 acres in Wyoming, according to a BLM news release.
Johnson County has not seen a double-digit offering of federal oil and gas leases up for auction since at least 2021.
“Currently we have mobilized and motivated energy producers working in Johnson County,” Johnson County Commission Chairman Bill Novotny wrote in an email. “We have an active drilling rig that is helping drive our economic growth and increase the tax base. Having the Bureau of Land Management offer new parcels for lease within the county is a positive step for the long range planning of these energy companies and the economic vitality of our community.”
The BLM holds quarterly oil and gas lease sales, which includes a public scoping and comment process. The public comment period for a lease sale in June 2026, which includes 112 oil and gas parcels totaling 120,927 acres around the state, ended in January. None of those were in Johnson County.
A sale scheduled for March includes one Johnson County parcel.
Federal oil and gas leases were last offered and bid on in Johnson County in March 2024. During that sale of 25 parcels leased around the state, three of those were offered and bid on in the county for exploration and potential development. During a September 2023 lease sale, five parcels were offered and leased in the county – out of 81 offered statewide.
Advocates for the oil and gas industry have celebrated President Donald Trump’s return to office and the administration’s support of fossil fuels. Lease sales were inconsistent during President Joe Biden’s tenure, driven by a 2021 executive order that paused new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters.
Federal oil and gas lease sales resumed in Wyoming in June 2022 following a federal court order. Only one lease sale occurred that year, and in 2023, there was no first-quarter lease sale.
Notably fewer parcels and acres were up for lease during Biden’s term in the White House.
Ryan McConnaughey, vice president and director of communications with the Petroleum Association of Wyoming, previously told the Bulletin that regularly scheduled, consistent lease sales bolster production capabilities for Wyoming oil and gas producers because they can plan drilling and capital outlays, which includes bids on leases.
The Wyoming Department of Administration and Information published its quarterly MACRO report for December 2025 on Monday. The publication has information on the state’s economic indicators.
The report notes that oil prices have dropped 17.3% from last year at the same time, averaging $57.97 a barrel in December. Natural gas prices are climbing, on the other hand, reaching $4.25 MMBtu in December, which is $1.23 higher than the previous year.
Rig counts were also down between December 2024 and December 2025. The report counts nine oil rigs and three gas rigs in production at the end of 2025, down from 12 oil rigs and four gas rigs that were active the previous December.
Currently, half of the tax on production of oil and gas on federal lands comes back to Wyoming.
A provision in the Big Beautiful Bill, the Trump administration’s 2025 budget package, requires the agency to hold quarterly oil and gas lease sales in states with available federal land for leasing.
The legislation also reduced the federal mineral royalty rate on oil and gas production from 16.67% to 12.5%. The Biden administration had originally raised the rate from 12.5%.
Those who have supported measures favorable to energy producers predict that the lower tax rate will ultimately benefit state and county budgets and create more jobs.
The Select Federal Natural Resource Management Committee sponsored a resolution that will be considered during the Wyoming Legislature’s upcoming budget session that, if passed, will ask Congress to introduce a bill that would increase
Wyoming’s share of federal mineral royalties to 87.5%. The resolution notes that Alaska receives 90% of revenue from federal mineral activity within its borders.
The resolution also says that the reduced federal mineral royalty rate on oil and gas is expected to cut the state’s share of revenue by approximately $600,000 in fiscal year 2026 and further by $4 million in fiscal year 2030.
The same committee is sponsoring another resolution that, if passed, would request that Congress give the state the authority to administer and manage mineral leasing on federal lands in Wyoming.
The BLM currently administers mineral leasing on federal lands. In Wyoming, the agency manages 42.9 million acres, or 67% of the mineral estate.
The resolution cites several changes made to federal mineral leasing between Republican and Democrat administrations over the past decade and the fact that mineral leasing in the state has been “inconsistent, unpredictable and subject to political delays that negatively impact Wyoming’s economy, energy industry and citizens.”
It notes that Wyoming’s management of mineral leases on state lands demonstrates that the state is equipped to take on management of mineral leasing on federal lands.
The Wyoming Legislature will convene its budget session on Feb. 9.
This story was published on Jan. 29, 2026.