The State Mineral Board has awarded 39 leases, totaling $11 million last week during its monthly Lease Sale. The board’s chairman, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary Scott Angelle, said the records show this revenue amount to be the highest in eight years for a monthly yield.

According to Angelle, one of the bids in the February sale was for a 1,436 acre tract offshore in Iberia parish at a per acre amount of $3,125 dollars. He said the state’s bonus amount for this tract was approximately $4.4 million, and the remaining cash award for the sale totaled approximately $6.6 million. Once oil and gas production commences from the leases, the state is entitled to additional revenue in the form of royalty payments.

In the month of April 1998, the state received $17.9 million from its lease sale, the biggest in recent years. “In addition to the big jump in this February’s bonus payment, records indicate that bonus payments received for this fiscal year will set a five-year (FY) record high for bonuses with four months still remaining in FY 07,” noted Mineral Board Secretary Marjorie McKeithen. Since FY 2001, the average year-end payment was $29,792,688, while the FY 2007 to date figure is $32,799,052.

The state Mineral Board meeting was held on February 14th and the preliminary results of the lease sale and the 2006-2007 Fiscal Year totals are below.