Bidding by oil-and-gas players intensified Tuesday at a government auction as a rich oil find in central Utah sent prices soaring above $1,000 an acre.
Fresh off news that Wolverine Gas & Oil Corp. discovered what could be a huge oil field, the company deployed clandestine bidders to foil speculators and pad its holdings on public lands with oil and gas potential.
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The bidding was intense on large parcels in central Utah, pushing starting prices of $2 an acre to as much as $1,250 an acre.
The most expensive bid was placed by a Utah investment group called Moose Mountain Minerals, which paid $1.42 million for a lease on 1,461 acres nearest Wolverine's find. In all, the Bureau of Land Management leased 137 parcels totaling 232,257 acres Tuesday. The auction raised $13.4 million, with half going to the state.
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