SANTA FE, N.M. – For the third month in a row, the State Land Office has broken a record with its oil and gas lease sales and earned historic revenue, bringing in over $117 million in bonus payments at a public auction, New Mexico Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard announced today. It is the third auction the State Land Office has held since a new, 25% royalty rate for premium oil and gas leases long championed by Commissioner Garcia Richard kicked in.
The State Land Office has earned a total of over $429 million in bonus payments in just the last three months – payments made simply for the right to obtain an oil and gas lease. This money goes to support education and other public services in the state, while freeing up taxpayer money for other critical needs – such as addressing the drastic cuts to health care and food assistance by the Trump administration.
“We’re now nearly a half a billion dollars in earnings in our three-month haul,” said Commissioner Garcia Richard. “As New Mexico prepares to hold a special legislative session to protect our residents from the worst of the Trump administration’s cuts to health insurance and food benefits, the money earned today gives our legislature and governor funding they can put to excellent use to meet the needs of New Mexican families. Industry knows that New Mexico has some of the best oil and gas plays in the world. After three highly successful auctions with the new top rate in place, we are now well on our way to earning billions more for our public schools in the long run. The results so far have been better than we could have even imagined.”
Each month, the State Land Office holds a public auction for the right to develop certain oil and gas areas. Companies submit bids for leases with the award going to the highest bidder. Once a lease begins to produce, an operator also pays royalty—a payment back to New Mexicans for development of a public resource.
The law that increased the top royalty rate, Senate Bill 23, went into effect June 20th. The first oil and gas lease sale with the new, top royalty rate in July earned a then-record $56 million from 14 offered parcels, nine of which were auctioned at the 25% rate. The August auction then shattered the July record, earning $256 million in bonus payments from just 10 offered parcels. One parcel in the August lease sale in Eddy County set a new State Land Office record of over $84 million and a then nationwide record of $132,552 per acre.
Commissioner of Public Lands Stephanie Garcia Richard has overseen the New Mexico State Land Office since 2019. In that time the agency has raised more than $12 billion for New Mexico public schools, hospitals, and universities. Over 13 million acres of state trust land are leased for a variety of uses, including ranching and farming, renewable energy, business development, mineral development, and outdoor recreation. The State Land Office has a dual mandate to use state trust land to financially support vital public institutions, while simultaneously working to protect the land for future generations.