High bonus bids totaling over $10,000,000 for oil and gas leases on Ute Indian lands in southwestern Colorado were opened by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on September 2 at Gallup, New Mexico, Assistant Secretary of the Interior Roger Ernst announced today.
On 41 tracts of Ute Mountain tribal land, comprising 92,062.96 acres, the average bonus bid per acre was $112.53 and the total of the high bids was $10,359,671.30. On one of the tracts the bid was $539.25 per acre.
Bids received on three tracts of Southern Ute tribal land, totaling 5,806.21 acres, averaged $27.44 per acre and brought in a total of $159,354.59.
One tract of individually owned Southern Ute land, comprising 640.54 acres, attracted a high bonus bid of $26,845.04 or $41.91 per acre.
The leases were offered under the terms of $1.25 per acre annual rental and a royalty of 16-2/3 percent on production.
Final action on the bonus offerings has not yet been taken by either of the tribal organizations or by the individual Indian landowners.
