A recent Oklahoma Land Commission sale of oil and gas leases netted nearly $5.8 million on 98 different parcels of land in 14 different counties ranging from Texas County in the Panhandle to Pittsburg in the southeast.
The honors for the largest amount of money paid for one lease went to Houston, Texas-based Newfield Exploration, a firm that’s been quite active in the STACK region of Blaine, Canadian and Kingfisher counties. Once again, Newfield, a firm with some big wells produced in recent weeks in Blaine county went after 160 acres with a high bid of $3.791 per acre or a total payment of $606,560 to the State School Land Commission.
Blaine County property was a hot item because of its hidden wealth in the STACK. Council Oak Resources paid $2,511 an acre for 160 acres, making a total payment of $401,760.
Other big buyers of leased land in Blaine county included Paloma Partners IV LLC which paid $1,750 per acre or $280,000 for a quarter-section of state-owned land; Continental Resources with a per-acre bid of $1,540 or $246,400 total for a quarter-section and Annastin Energy LLC which bid $1,536 per acre or $245,760 total for 160 acres.
The highest price bid per acre was $5,000 and that was in Blaine county, but the amount of land only involved .06 of an acre, making the total payment $300 by Maximus Energy LLC of Oklahoma City.
President Dan Whitmarsh chuckled about the deal, saying, “I think I’ve got $300 cash in my pocket.”
He had yet to see the title on the land but guessed it might be something left isolated by a body of water.
“I was just looking for a small percentage,” explained Whitmarsh with a laugh. “The closest other bid, I think was $900 an acre.”
When you figure the size of .06 of an acre, that’s about a size of a typical residential lot. In this case, his .06 of an acre is located in far southern Blaine County around the city of Geary and close to the Caddo County line.
Dewey county had a $1,657.77 an acre bid for 160 acres by Bearcat Land Inc. which totaled $265,243.20. SandRidge Energy bid $800 an acre for 160 acres in Garfield County with a final payout of $128,000.
Continental Resources had three successful bids in Grady County, obtaining leases for a total of 70 acres of land at a total cost of $84,000 or $1,200 an acre.
Bidding was active in Woodward County where Tapstone Energy invested nearly $1.9 million on 19 different leases at $1,278 per acre. Danick Energy Partners won bids on 19 leases also in Woodward County paying $105 per acre.
