Environment DEC
From the April 2003 issue
Oil and Gas Rights Lease in Southern Tier
DEC has announced plans for the state to lease oil and gas development rights on 26,000 acres of land in Steuben and Schuyler counties.
Twenty-one parcels of state land have been offered for lease: 18 reforestation areas; two multiple-use areas; and a wildlife management area. The lease tracts are located near land that is now being explored because it may overlie the recently discovered Trenton/Black River gas formation.
Significant Resources and Revenue
DEC conducted two informational
outreach sessions in Corning, Steuben
County, to discuss the proposed
land lease sale
In addition to safely developing the state's indigenous energy resources, the land lease sale will provide a potentially significant source of non-tax revenue for the state over the next several years.
DEC's most recent oil and gas lease sale on state lands, conducted in May 1999 in the same region, saw operators pay $3 million for the rights to develop 13,000 acres. Currently, there are 58,840 acres of state land under lease, generating an estimated $245,000 in revenue last year.
An estimated 11,600 oil and gas wells are in production in New York, including 113 operated on state lands. Total statewide production for 2001 was 27.95 billion cubic feet of gas and 183,094 barrels of oil. DEC issues about 130 drilling permits per year for oil and gas exploration on private and public lands.
Information about the oil and gas lease sale is available on DEC's web site.
