The Biden administration netted more than $61 million Thursday from a federal oil sale under a south Texas reservoir where drilling was once hotly contested.
The Bureau of Land Management sold four oil and gas leases that overlap with the Choke Canyon Reservoir, an artificial lake owned by the Bureau of Reclamation and operated by the city of Corpus Christi, Texas. The reservoir provides drinking water for the city.
Houston-based Verdun Oil had the highest successful bid Thursday at nearly $23 million for a 2,518-acre tract. Silver Hill IV, a private equity fund connected to Silver Hill Energy Partners, was the higher bidder for the other three leases. Ten bidders participated in the sale, according to BLM.
The bureau has estimated that Thursday’s sale could result in four horizontal wells and produce up to 628,000 barrels of oil and 2,504,000 thousand cubic feet of gas.
