Deals

Permian Oil Auction Gets Record $1 Billion as Bidding Soars

  • Tracts in New Mexico side of Permian garner $95,000 per acre
  • Two-day event raises more than all of 2017, double prior high

Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

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The price to access unexplored shale assets on the New Mexico side of the Permian Basin soared to $95,001 an acre in a federal government auction, a record high for North America’s biggest oil field.

The state’s previous record was $40,001 an acre set in December, according to a statement by the U.S. Department of the Interior Thursday. Overall, the two-day auction saw bids on 142 parcels of land and raised $972 million, more than the whole of 2017 and double the 2008 record.