(Reuters) – The Biden administration will auction off drilling rights for federal acreage in at least six states in June, according to sale notices published on Monday.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management will offer 131,771 acres (53,326 hectares) to oil and gas companies in Wyoming, the largest planned sale, and smaller amounts of land in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada and Utah, documents posted on the agency’s website said.
The announcements come days after the U.S. Department of Interior said it would resume oil and gas lease sales on federal lands, a move that clashes with a pledge on climate change — to halt leasing on those lands — that President Joe Biden made while campaigning for the White House.
(Reporting by Nichola Groom; editing by Jonathan Oatis)