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**For immediate release David Boyd 970-947-2832**

**June 9, 2008 Jim Sample 303-239-3861**

**Steven Hall 303-239-3672**

**BLM August 14 Oil & Gas Lease Sale Information Available**

DENVER -- The Bureau of Land Management Colorado today announced that it
will offer to lease for oil and gas development 46 parcels totaling
approximately 73,552 acres at its quarterly oil and gas lease sale on
August 14, 2008.

The sale will include 55,186 acres in 31 parcels in the Roan Plateau
Planning Area. All include strict stipulations to protect the area's
streams, wildlife habitat and landscape views. Leases on top of the
Plateau will require a single federal unit and phased, ridge-by-ridge
development, in which only one operator conducts operations on behalf of
all lessees. This allows BLM to exert tight control over oil and gas
development, while consolidating infrastructure like roads, power lines
and pipelines. Leasing in this area, also known as the Naval Oil Shale
Reserves, is at the direction of Congress.

The remaining 15 parcels cover 18,366 acres on Forest Service lands in
the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests. The parcels
overlie existing Federal coal leases, including the West Elk Mine. The
Forest Service and BLM worked collaboratively on stipulations that will
provide for mine safety and other protective measures, including the
capture and use of methane gas that will be vented from the wells, which
is necessary for the safe operation of the coal mine.

BLM acts as the leasing agent for mineral rights on all federal lands.
The decision to make Forest Service lands available for lease is made by
the Forest Service, with the BLM managing the sale of the leases.

The lease sale will offer parcels in two counties: Garfield with 55,186
acres, and Gunnison with 18,366 acres.

"Of the total acreage managed by the BLM, less than one percent
experiences surface disturbance from oil and gas activity," said Acting
BLM Colorado Deputy State Director for Energy, Lands and Minerals Duane
Spencer. "The Bureau analyzes the potential environmental effects from
exploration and development before offering any leases for sale. Leases
are only offered in areas where a land use plan, developed with input
from the public, has authorized leasing to take place."

The federal government has paid \$2.39 billion in mineral royalties,
bonus payments and rental fees to Colorado since 1922. In 2007, the
state received \$123 million in federal mineral payments.

Statewide, BLM accounts for about 13 percent of new oil and gas leasing
activity. In 2007, the state of Colorado processed 6,386 applications
for drilling permits, with 827 on federal lands or federal mineral
holdings. The remaining wells are on state-owned or private lands.

The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 and the 1987 Federal Onshore Oil and Gas
Leasing Reform Act authorize leasing of federal oil and gas resources.
The 1987 law, which amended the Mineral Leasing Act, requires each BLM
state office to conduct oil and gas lease sales on at least a quarterly
basis where there is interest to do so.

All leases come with stipulations (general requirements) on oil and gas
activities to protect the environment; leases can also include specific
restrictions, such as limits on seasons when drilling can occur and
restrictions on surface occupancy by oil and gas operators. BLM Colorado
holds oil and gas lease sales on the second Thursday of February, May,
August, and November. Lease sale information can be obtained online at
[http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/BLM\_Programs/oilandgas/leasing.html]{.underline},
at each of the Bureau's field offices, and the Public Room at the
Colorado State Office in Lakewood.

National BLM policy requires that all protests filed on nominated
parcels must include the specific serial number of the parcel being
protested and must be received by the BLM either by mail, hand delivery,
or fax by 4:00 p.m., July 30, 2008. If a protest is filed by fax, it
must be sent to 303-239-3799.

The BLM manages over 8.3 million surface acres of public lands in
Colorado, plus more than 27 million subsurface acres for mineral
development in the state. These lands are managed for a multitude of
uses including recreation, mining, wildlife habitat and livestock
grazing.

-BLM-