Oil and gas lease sales more bitter than sweet

The state completed its oil and gas lease sale for January last week, and the results confirm once again that industry interest is dwindling as the national economy continues its downward trend. The Louisiana Mineral Board collected $881,000 for the month, the weakest January sale on record for at least the past 13 years. In fact, the previous five-year average for January—$2 million per monthly sale—was more than double what was pulled down last week. Of the 76 leases that were up for bid, 58 were never acted on. To find a similar disparity for the month, you would have to go back to the January 2004 sale, when 59 of 80 leases received no bids. Adding insult to injury is the revelation that this may very well be a trend. The December sale came in at roughly $1.4 million last month, which was $1 million shy of the December 2007 take and the lowest year-end sale since 2004. For a longer version of this story, click here.—Jeremy Alford