Poet Tied to Myanmar Buys Oil, Geothermal Leases in 12 States

A poet and cosmetics entrepreneur with ties to Myanmar and little experience in the energy industry has purchased more than $3 million in state and federal oil, gas, and geothermal leases in 12 states since June—moves that industry leaders say are unusual.

Just this week, Levi Sap Nei Thang of Los Angeles purchased 50 oil and gas leases in Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, and North Dakota, totaling $579,510, according to federal Bureau of Land Management sales results released Thursday.

Since July, Thang’s purchases also dominated federal and state oil and gas leases in New Mexico, Wyoming, Nevada, Texas, and Oklahoma. And in June, Thang purchased a federal geothermal lease in Washington state.

In all, Thang has spent more than $3.1 million buying up oil and gas leases on state and federal land, according to land bureau, Wyoming, and New Mexico oil and gas leasing data compiled by Bloomberg Law.

The land bureau reports lease sale results on the National Fluids Lease Sale System, its land planning website, or its online auction house, EnergyNet, depending on the bureau state office reporting the data.

It’s rare for an individual to purchase so many public minerals leases across such a broad area of the U.S. in such a short period of time.

“It certainly is a unique situation that I haven’t seen in my 15 years in the industry, especially considering the amount spent and her background,” said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, a trade group representing energy companies operating on federal land.

Thang’s website says she’s a poet, author, entrepreneur, and “dreamer” who markets skin care products and promotes her home country of Myanmar. Her Facebook page says she was in New Mexico on Sept. 6, where she has helped to establish oil companies, all limited liability companies.

Bidding Against Herself

Anyone can participate in an oil and gas lease sale, and it can be cheap to purchase a lease—as little as $2 per acre.

But because most leases are sold in competitive sales, some are sold for high dollar amounts. Thang this week purchased one Montana lease for $133,470, according to land bureau sales results.

In the New Mexico state auction, Thang bid multiple times in a row for several parcels, according to state documents that show underlying bids. In some cases, she ended up winning with a bid that was double her initial offer, with no bidders in between. She won leases totaling more than $1.3 million in July, with another $284,000 in August.

When asked via Facebook Messenger how she got her funding, Thang responded, “I do not have a lot of money but always have enough money for what I want to do.” She later added that her family owned “plenty of properties, almost everywhere.”

When reached by phone Thursday, Thang said she is in business with other family members, and wants to drill for oil to help family and raise money for a charitable foundation in honor of a child who passed away.

She said she is working with “professionals” in each state, and is talks to contract with an oil driller for some of the land she has leased.

“I want to be an owner,” Thang said, referring to oil leases. “In my country, we never have those opportunities.”

Thang said she doesn’t plan to keep leasing land for long.

“By next month, you will see my focus will be different,” Thang said. “I have to focus on some beauty products next month.”

Partnering With Industry?

The land bureau gives purchasers 10 years to develop their leases. Thang said previously that she doesn’t have immediate plans to develop her leases in Nevada.

“BLM does not question a lessee of their intent to develop a lease,” said Sarah Holm, a spokeswoman for the land bureau’s Montana office.

Industry representatives say Thang has the option to work with companies to develop the leased land.

“As a newcomer with no experience in the industry, she could try to sell the leases to others, partner with a company to operate the leases on her behalf, or hire her own experienced management team if she wanted to operate them directly,” Sgamma said.

It may be possible for Thang and others like her to purchase a federal oil lease and then make a deal with drilling companies, said Steve Degenfelder, land manager for Kirkwood Oil and Gas LLC of Casper, Wyo., which competed with Thang for oil leases in Nevada.

“Sometimes it can pay off big; other times you lose the money you spent,” Degenfelder said.