(AP) -- The state Department of Natural Resources and Environment says a one-day oil and gas lease auction pumped $178 million into the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, nearly matching the $190 million collected over the previous 81 years. Lynne Boyd, chief of the DNRE's Forest Management Division, says proceeds from Tuesday's auction far exceeded the previous one-day total of $23.6 million set in 1981.
The DNRE says 118,117 acres in 22 counties were leased for an average price of $1,507 per acre. The highest bid was $5,500 per acre for a lease in Charlevoix County. Boyd says bidding was boosted by news of a successful test well in Missaukee County for natural gas on a geologic formation known as the Utica Shale. The mostly undeveloped formation exists throughout northern Lower Michigan.
Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment: http://www.mi.gov/dnr
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