This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The Bureau of Land Management sold leases on all 17 parcels that remained of its quarterly oil and gas auction for Utah Tuesday.

The auction brought in bids totaling $342,277, the biggest coming from the Cheyenne, Wyo.-based firm, Hoover & Stacy Inc.

Last week, the BLM pulled back most of the acreage it proposed to lease for drilling in San Juan and Grand counties in deference to concerns raised by state trust lands managers, as well as preservation and environmental groups.

A top concern was the potential impact leasing could have on archaeological sites around Alkali Ridge and Montezuma Canyon east of Blanding.

And the School and Institutional Trust Land Administration did not want BLM to lease minerals under its "split-estate" lands in the southern Book Cliffs.

That left only 12,834 acres, all of which gained the $2-an-acre minimum bid on Tuesday. Hoover & Stacy submitted four of the largest bids on parcels in San Juan County, including one for $82,890 on a 1,842-acre block.

BLM divides the revenues along with royalties arising from fuel production with the state.

— Brian Maffly