OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Two oil and gas companies have each paid more than $1 million for the right to drill on state-owned land in Oklahoma, the highest payouts for the state since at least 2011.
Paloma Partners IV, an operation by Houston-based Paloma Resources, has spent a total of more than $1.1 million to gain mineral rights in Kingfisher County, just northwest of Oklahoma City.
Another company won 40 acres of drilling rights in Garvin County at more than $13,000 an acre in February. And Tulsa-based Armor Energy LLC paid about $6,500 per acre in May.
Oklahoma made $22.5 million in 2016 by selling drilling rights, which doesn't include production royalty payments. Drillers paid the state $83 million for leases in 2011.