WASHINGTON, June 6 (UPI) -- Colorado had a 41 percent boost in royalties, or $89 million, from oil and gas leases from federal lands within the state in 2004, a federal report said.
A U.S. Bureau of Land Management report said Colorado had the largest percentage jump in royalties. Wyoming received more than $600 million in federal payments in 2004, New Mexico about $383 million and Utah about $73 million, reported the Denver Post.
The report, "Oil and Gas Activity on Public Lands," said the BLM issued a total of 45,800 leases nationally, with 87 percent
in Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Montana.
The BLM had administered close to 80,000 leases in the 1980s, according to Mark Smith, executive director of the Denver-based Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States.
"Right now, we're at one of the lowest points in the last 20 to 30 years," Smith said.
