Today, I spent some time comparing the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands ("Department") oil and gas lease auction summary results.
The Department is tasked with, among other duties, the responsibility of managing the mineral leasing of North Dakota state lands. Part of this obligation includes holding oil and gas lease auctions. More information on the oil and gas leasing process can be found here. The monthly summaries can be found here.
Curious about the February 2016 auction, I reviewed the most recent oil and gas lease auction summary, provided below, and was surprised with what I saw:
https://land.nd.gov/minerals/mineralapps/auctions/auctionsummary.aspx
One year ago, in February 2015, the oil and gas lease summary looked a little different:
https://land.nd.gov/minerals/mineralapps/auctions/auctionsummary.aspx
When these two summaries are compared, acreage in McKenzie and Williams Counties are bringing in sizable bonus amounts per acre – in fact, since last year, the increase in the bonus/per acre amounts are significant for these counties.
However, acreage in Bottineau County and Burke County is not in the same boat. The bonus per acre in these counties has decreased substantially.
Out of curiosity, I also looked at the summary from November of 2015:
The bonus per acre paid in Mountrail and Dunn Counties in November 2015 were real doozies. McKenzie County's bonus amount was also significant.
In deciphering what this all could potentially mean, the first thing that emerges is that these are not "apples to apples" comparisons. There are many factors that could affect the amount of bonus per acre paid, including, but not limited to, the number of acres sold and the locations being auctioned. Conclusions are difficult to make.
Despite that, one thing is notable – the areas that are considered the sweet spots, despite volatile commodity prices, do end up sticking out.
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