SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's latest monthly oil and gas lease sale has netted $6.7 million for the State Land Office.
The agency says that brings earnings for the first quarter of this fiscal year to nearly $50 million. That's more than six times the amount collected during the same period last year.
Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn says the agency is on track for a top-performing year and that means more money flowing into education.
Nearly all of the revenues collected by the State Land Office are from oil and gas development on state trust lands, and most of that goes to public schools. The office collected $546 million during the last fiscal year.
For the September lease sale, the agency offered 10 tracts covering 1,560 acres (631 hectares) in Eddy and Lea counties.