Companies to Pay $4 Billion for New Mexico, Texas Oil Leases

Oil companies paid out $4 billion to the Interior Department on Wednesday to lease federal land for oil and gas drilling in New Mexico and Texas, mostly in the Permian Basin.

The leases were sold as part of the Bureau of Land Management’s quarterly lease sale for the two states. All told, companies leased 74 parcels of land, including 73 in New Mexico and one in Texas, covering 33,530 acres.

Devon Energy Production Co. LP and Federal Abstract Co. were among the companies bidding the most for leases in the sale.

The revenue the sale generated will be split between ...