The Rest of the “No Bid” Story
January 16, 2026
Dennis Webb’s Jan. 10 article, “Industry not interested in second BLM effort to sell oil, gas leases,” presents a misleading picture of Colorado’s recent federal lease sales. Suggesting that the lack of interest in a single, legally mandated and redundant sale reflects larger trends is inaccurate and lacking context.
In December 2025, a BLM Colorado sale brought 4.9 million dollars, with some parcels drawing more than 2000 dollars per acre; this indicates interest.
As of January, 2026, Federal law requires BLM to hold a “replacement” sale when a quarter of the acres in a previous sale receive no bids. The January sale in question was a ‘round two’ offering of the same 20,451 acres companies had just reviewed and passed over.
In a regulatory environment that out-of-state companies see as restrictive, unpredictable, and sometimes unprofitable, it is no surprise that operators focus only on the best leases and bid at the first opportunity.
Industry engages carefully when choosing to commit capital in this challenging state where it can take nearly a year to permit a single well, cutting into that site's 10 year lease.
Availability of drilling rigs is limited, and operators in northwest Colorado often commit to only a few wells before moving on to basins where many pads are permitted and ready to go.
Colorado’s regulatory and permitting system has become, in the words of COGA’s Lynn Granger, “too uncertain and too slow to support long-term investment.” State energy roadmaps now describe oil and gas as a short-term “transition” and treat even natural gas as acceptable only if paired with expensive carbon-capture projects that are unrealistic for rural Colorado.
Lawmakers defend this framework as necessary to reduce global emissions, but production is not being phased out, it is being displaced. This raises a serious question: why push production out of Colorado - where operators meet some of the toughest standards in the world - only to shift reliance to energy from regions with weaker rules and higher emissions?
Colorado has spent years signaling that industry is temporary and unwelcome: when lease clocks, permits, rigs, and parcel quality factor into decisions, companies will take their investment, jobs, and revenue elsewhere.
Disinterest in one replacement sale does not imply that leasing no longer matters.
Op-Ed written by AGNC Executive Director, Tiffany Dickenson