Last updated October 27, 2026. Figures come from the official documents linked under each sale.
This page follows what the Bureau of Land Management Montana-Dakotas sales and the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands oil and gas auctions brought in from January 2025 through October 27, 2026. Both agencies run their sales online through Efficient Markets. Each sale below has its date, size, total bonus, the official results page, a direct link to the results file where one is public, and news from after the sale. To see what's coming next, check our lease sales calendar.
Results at a glance
Every sale since January 2025, newest first.| Sale | Agency | Parcels or tracts | Acres | Total bonus | Avg. $ per acre |
|---|
| BLM Oct. 27, 2026 | BLM | 20 parcels | 3,387.53 | $21,265,874 | $6,278 |
| Trust Lands Oct. 2026 | ND Trust Lands | 192 tracts | 19,219.03 | $10,215,424 | $532 |
| BLM Jul. 14, 2026 | BLM | 63 parcels | 27,330.47 | $129,925,048 | $4,754 |
| BLM Apr. 28, 2026 | BLM | 23 parcels | 8,988.98 | $44,288,258 | $4,927 |
| Trust Lands Mar. 2026 | ND Trust Lands | 178 tracts | 16,441.54 | $10,874,933 | $661 |
| BLM Jan. 13, 2026 | BLM | 19 parcels | 4,116.01 | $8,581,266 | $2,085 |
| BLM Oct. 21, 2025 | BLM | 4 parcels | 2,068.40 | $6,592,759 | $3,187 |
| Trust Lands Oct. 2025 | ND Trust Lands | 708 tracts | 64,156.42 | $49,473,686 | $771 |
| BLM Sep. 10, 2025 | BLM | 23 parcels | 7,604.47 | $38,049,119 | $5,004 |
| BLM Apr. 29, 2025 | BLM | 11 parcels | 4,266.06 | $3,366,890 | $789 |
| Trust Lands Feb. 2025 | ND Trust Lands | 136 tracts | 12,793.16 | $13,650,142 | $1,067 |
| BLM Jan. 22, 2025 | BLM | 13 parcels | 1,324.13 | $11,314,786 | $8,545 |
BLM acres are gross parcel acres and Trust Lands acres are net mineral acres. BLM averages are our tally, which is total high bids divided by acres. Trust Lands averages are the department's own. Bonus is shown as the results documents report it, without BLM's rent and fees.
County price snapshot
BLM's results sheets don't list counties, so this snapshot uses the four Trust Lands auctions. Each figure is the county's total bonus divided by its net acres in the Land Board's county table, which is our tally. A dash means that county isn't in the table for that auction, and n/m means too few acres to give a meaningful figure. The range is wide: in October 2025 McKenzie and Mountrail tracts averaged in the thousands of dollars an acre while Billings and Dunn averaged under $100.[1]
Average bonus per net acre by county, ND Trust Lands auctions (our tally).| County | Feb. 2025 | Oct. 2025 | Mar. 2026 | Oct. 2026 |
|---|
| McKenzie | $2,032
31 tracts | $2,237
62 tracts | $3,698
17 tracts | $4,194
7 tracts |
|---|
| Williams | $4,958
8 tracts | $2,795
14 tracts | $1,907
6 tracts | $1,928
19 tracts |
|---|
| Mountrail | n/m
2 tracts, 0.51 ac | $3,863
51 tracts | $871
2 tracts | – |
|---|
| Burke | $53
4 tracts | $1,038
71 tracts | $617
24 tracts | $2,134
9 tracts |
|---|
| Divide | $191
19 tracts | $711
92 tracts | – | – |
|---|
| Billings | $828
33 tracts | $49
113 tracts | $132
7 tracts | $135
14 tracts |
|---|
| Dunn | $288
2 tracts | $81
51 tracts | $59
14 tracts | $807
3 tracts |
|---|
How to read these results
Bonus and royalty are different money. Bonus is the one-time payment a company makes to win a lease. Royalty is the share of production paid after wells come online. Every per-acre price on this page is bonus only. It doesn't include royalty, rental or fees.
Acres aren't all counted the same way. BLM sells parcels and reports gross parcel acres. Trust Lands reports net mineral acres, meaning the acres the state actually owns in each tract. BLM's total receipts add first-year rent and fees to the high bids, so they run a bit above the bonus. Where we divide a total by acres ourselves, we call it our tally.
Final and preliminary. A sale is final once the agency posts its results document. Until then any figures are preliminary and can change. BLM posts its results as a PDF under Sale Results in the sale's documents on its ePlanning site, and Trust Lands posts a tract-by-tract results file after each auction.[2] Efficient Markets, which runs the online bidding for both, also keeps a results page for each sale.[3]
Small differences between sources are normal. For the October 2026 auction, Trust Lands' summary reports $10,215,424 on 192 tracts, and Efficient Markets' sale page reports $10,210,174 on the 134 tracts that received bids. The figures on this page are the agency's.[4]
BLM Montana-Dakotas sales
BLM holds its Montana-Dakotas sales quarterly. The Documents page for each sale on BLM's ePlanning site lists the results PDF under Sale Results. ePlanning hands out time-limited file links, so we point to the Documents page rather than a PDF address that would stop working.
BLM Montana-Dakotas sale, October 27, 2026
- Agency
- Bureau of Land Management
- Date
- Oct. 27, 2026
- Platform
- Efficient Markets
- Status
- Final
- Offered
- 20 parcels, 3,387.53 gross acres
- Total bonus
- $21,265,874 (our tally from the results sheet)
- Average per acre
- $6,278 (our tally)
- High bid
- $11,000 per acre (McKenzie County)
BLM offered 20 parcels covering 3,387.53 gross acres in Montana and North Dakota, and every one drew a bid.[5] BLM's results sheet shows high bids totaling $21,265,874 and total receipts of $21,339,550, with 28 registered bidders. North Dakota had 19 parcels, 3,227.53 acres and $21,264,274. Montana had one 160-acre Musselshell County parcel that went for the $10 minimum, or $1,600. The average works out to $6,278 per gross acre, our tally, and the top bid was $11,000 per acre on a McKenzie County parcel of 319 acres.
McKenzie County carried the sale. Its 13 parcels covered 2,589.95 acres and brought $18,053,835, about $6,971 an acre by our tally. Three Divide County parcels averaged about $5,660 an acre. BLM received two protests covering all 20 parcels and resolved them before the sale without pulling any parcels.[6] Counties and legal descriptions in the table below come from the sale's parcel list, and prices come from BLM's results sheet.
Parcel prices
High bid per acre from BLM's Sale Results. County and legal description from the sale's parcel list.| County | Legal description | Gross acres | $ per acre |
|---|
| Musselshell (MT) | T. 11 N., R. 28 E., Montana Principal, Sec. 22 N2NE, N2NW; | 160 | $10 |
| Renville (ND) | T. 158 N., R. 82 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 15 NWNE; | 40 | $10 |
| Williams (ND) | T. 153 N., R. 98 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 22 LOT 6; | 5.40 | $2,007 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 145 N., R. 99 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 6 NWSE; | 40 | $3,102 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 147 N., R. 99 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 32 SW; | 160 | $4,001 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 146 N., R. 100 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 22 S2; | 320 | $8,156 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 146 N., R. 100 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 28 N2 (EXCL 1 AC); | 319 | $11,000 |
| Williams (ND) | T. 159 N., R. 103 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 4 PORTION OF LOT 5 WITHIN THE LINEAR CONFINES OF SEC. 4; Sec. 4 LOT 2; | 39.68 | $1,778 |
| Divide (ND) | T. 160 N., R. 103 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 32 LOTS 5-7; | 32.50 | $2,589 |
| Divide (ND) | T. 162 N., R. 103 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 11 N2; | 320 | $6,032 |
| Divide (ND) | T. 162 N., R. 103 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 14 NENW, S2NW, N2SW; | 200 | $5,556 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 149 N., R. 104 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 5 LOT 3; Sec. 5 S2SW, SWSE; Sec. 6 SESE; | 200.13 | $6,066 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 149 N., R. 104 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 5 LOT 1; Sec. 5 SESE; | 80.09 | $6,055 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 149 N., R. 104 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 9 E2NE; | 80 | $5,749 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 149 N., R. 104 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 20 SWSW; | 40 | $6,023 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 149 N., R. 104 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 25 N2NW, SW, NWSE, S2SE; | 360 | $4,011 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 149 N., R. 104 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 29 W2NW, SW, SESE; Sec. 30 LOTS 1,2; Sec. 30 E2NE, E2SE; Sec. 31 NESE, LYING NORTH AND WEST OF HWY 68 (FKA HWY 61); | 521.57 | $7,012 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 149 N., R. 104 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 30 LOTS 3,4; Sec. 31 LOT 3, LYING NORTH AND WEST OF HWY 68 (FKA HWY 61); Sec. 31 LOT 4, LYING NORTH AND WEST OF HWY 68 (FKA HWY 61); Sec. 31 SENE, LYING NORTH AND WEST OF HWY 68 (FKA HWY 61); Sec. 31 LOTS 1,2; Sec. 31 NENE; | 265.26 | $9,211 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 149 N., R. 104 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 31 LOT 3, THAT PORTION LYING SOUTH AND EAST OF HWY 68 (FKA HWY 61); Sec. 31 SENE, THAT PORTION LYING SOUTH AND EAST OF HWY 68 (FKA HWY 61); Sec. 31 LOT 4, THAT PORTION LYING SOUTH AND EAST OF HWY 68 (FKA HWY 61); | 43.90 | $5,451 |
| McKenzie (ND) | T. 150 N., R. 104 W., Fifth Principal, Sec. 15 S2SW, S2SE; | 160 | $6,037 |
Official results
After the sale
BLM Montana-Dakotas sale, July 14, 2026
- Agency
- Bureau of Land Management
- Date
- July 14, 2026
- Platform
- Efficient Markets
- Status
- Final
- Offered
- 63 parcels, 27,330.47 gross acres
- Total bonus
- $129,925,048 (our tally from the results sheet)
- Average per acre
- $4,754 (our tally)
- High bid
- $10,402 per acre
BLM leased 63 parcels covering 27,330.47 acres. High bids totaled $129,925,048, and BLM's release puts total receipts, which add first-year rent and fees, at $130,207,102.[7] North Dakota had 62 parcels, 27,290.47 acres and $129,615,008. Montana had one 40-acre parcel at $310,040. The average works out to $4,754 per acre, our tally, and the top bid was $10,402 per acre.
Efficient Markets reported 441 bids from 24 bidders, a top parcel bid of $15,381,254, and called it the highest revenue in the office's history.[8] Taxpayers for Common Sense reported that 88 percent of the acreage was in McKenzie County.[9]
Official results
After the sale
BLM Montana-Dakotas sale, April 28, 2026
- Agency
- Bureau of Land Management
- Date
- April 28, 2026
- Platform
- Efficient Markets
- Status
- Final
- Offered
- 23 parcels, 8,988.98 gross acres
- Total bonus
- $44,288,258 (our tally from the results sheet)
- Average per acre
- $4,927 (our tally)
- High bid
- $10,006 per acre
BLM leased 23 parcels covering 8,988.98 acres in North and South Dakota. High bids totaled $44,288,258 and total receipts came to $44,388,262, which BLM called the highest for a Montana/Dakotas sale at that time.[10] North Dakota had 21 parcels, 8,188.98 acres and $44,280,258. South Dakota had two parcels covering 800 acres at $8,000, or $10 an acre. The average is $4,927 per acre, our tally, and the top bid was $10,006 per acre.
Official results
After the sale
BLM Montana-Dakotas sale, January 13, 2026
- Agency
- Bureau of Land Management
- Date
- Jan. 13, 2026
- Platform
- Efficient Markets
- Status
- Final
- Offered
- 19 parcels, 4,116.01 gross acres
- Total bonus
- $8,581,266 (our tally from the results sheet)
- Average per acre
- $2,085 (our tally)
- High bid
- $15,002 per acre
BLM leased 19 parcels covering 4,116.01 acres in Montana and North Dakota. High bids totaled $8,581,266 and total receipts were $8,653,960.[11] North Dakota had 18 parcels, 3,811.03 acres and $8,511,421. Montana had one parcel of 304.98 acres at $69,845. The average is $2,085 per acre, our tally, and the top bid was $15,002 per acre.
Official results
After the sale
BLM Montana-Dakotas sale, October 21, 2025
- Agency
- Bureau of Land Management
- Date
- Oct. 21, 2025
- Platform
- Efficient Markets
- Status
- Final
- Offered
- 4 parcels, 2,068.40 gross acres
- Total bonus
- $6,592,759 (our tally from the results sheet)
- Average per acre
- $3,187 (our tally)
- High bid
- $3,611 per acre
BLM offered four North Dakota parcels covering 2,068.40 acres.[12] All four were leased. High bids totaled $6,592,759, and the results sheet shows total receipts of $6,611,366. The average is $3,187 per acre, our tally, and the top bid was $3,611 per acre.
Official results
Related
BLM Montana-Dakotas sale, September 10, 2025
- Agency
- Bureau of Land Management
- Date
- Sept. 10, 2025
- Platform
- Efficient Markets
- Status
- Final
- Offered
- 23 parcels, 7,604.47 gross acres
- Total bonus
- $38,049,119 (our tally from the results sheet)
- Average per acre
- $5,004 (our tally)
- High bid
- $10,601 per acre
BLM leased 23 parcels covering 7,604.47 acres in Montana and North Dakota, and its release says the sale raised over $38 million.[13] High bids totaled $38,049,119. Montana took the larger share: 4,721.82 acres and $23,501,222, against 2,882.65 acres and $14,547,897 in North Dakota. The average is $5,004 per acre, our tally, and the top bid was $10,601 per acre.
BLM credited three-mile lateral drilling in the Bakken and Three Forks of eastern Montana, and North Dakota parcels on U.S. Forest Service land, for the strong results.
Official results
After the sale
BLM Montana-Dakotas sale, April 29, 2025
- Agency
- Bureau of Land Management
- Date
- April 29, 2025
- Platform
- Efficient Markets
- Status
- Final
- Offered
- 11 parcels, 4,266.06 gross acres
- Total bonus
- $3,366,890 (our tally from the results sheet)
- Average per acre
- $789 (our tally)
- High bid
- $8,211 per acre
BLM leased 11 parcels covering 4,266.06 acres, and its release puts total receipts at $3,413,797.[14] High bids totaled $3,366,890. North Dakota had 10 parcels, 4,263.68 acres and $3,342,257. Montana had one parcel of 2.38 acres at $24,633. The average is $789 per acre, our tally, and the top bid was $8,211 per acre.
Official results
After the sale
BLM Montana-Dakotas sale, January 22, 2025
- Agency
- Bureau of Land Management
- Date
- Jan. 22, 2025
- Platform
- Efficient Markets
- Status
- Final
- Offered
- 13 parcels, 1,324.13 gross acres
- Total bonus
- $11,314,786 (our tally from the results sheet)
- Average per acre
- $8,545 (our tally)
- High bid
- $26,667 per acre
BLM leased 13 parcels covering 1,324.13 acres in Montana and North Dakota, and took 255 bids.[15] High bids totaled $11,314,786, and the results sheet shows total receipts of $11,359,073. Montana carried most of the money: 1,125.63 acres and $9,054,603, against 198.5 acres and $2,260,183 in North Dakota. The average is $8,545 per acre, our tally, and the top bid was $26,667 per acre.
Official results
After the sale
North Dakota Trust Lands auctions
Trust Lands holds its oil and gas auctions in February and October most years, with an occasional spring sale. The results PDF lists every tract. The Land Board's agenda packet or minutes for the following meeting carries the department's results summary and county table.
Trust Lands oil and gas auction, October 6 to 13, 2026
- Agency
- North Dakota Department of Trust Lands
- Date
- Oct. 6 to 13, 2026
- Platform
- Efficient Markets
- Status
- Final
- Offered
- 192 tracts, 19,219.03 net mineral acres
- Total bonus
- $10,215,424
- Average per acre
- $532 (the department's figure)
- High bid
- $5,170 per acre; $805,440 for one tract
Trust Lands offered 192 tracts covering 19,219.03 net mineral acres. The department's summary reports $10,215,424 in total bonus, 947 bids, and 35 of 44 registered bidders placing at least one bid. The average is $532 per net acre.[16]
Prices split hard by county. McKenzie County had seven tracts on 1,120 net acres for $4,696,960, and Williams County had 19 tracts on 2,039.84 acres for $3,931,927. Burke County's nine tracts brought $894,276 and included the top per-acre price. Bowman County's 31 tracts, 2,424.63 acres, brought $6,693 in total.
Official results
After the sale
Trust Lands oil and gas auction, March 17 to 24, 2026
- Agency
- North Dakota Department of Trust Lands
- Date
- March 17 to 24, 2026
- Platform
- Efficient Markets
- Status
- Final
- Offered
- 178 tracts, 16,441.54 net mineral acres
- Total bonus
- $10,874,933
- Average per acre
- $661 (the department's figure)
- High bid
- $6,001 per acre; $960,160 for one tract
Trust Lands offered 178 tracts covering 16,441.54 net mineral acres, and 161 of them received bids. The department's summary reports $10,874,933 in total bonus and 1,130 bids from 27 of 38 registered bidders. The average is $661 per net acre.[17]
McKenzie County had 17 tracts on 2,257.83 acres for $8,349,114, which was most of the total. Williams County had six tracts for $1,099,221, and Burke County 24 tracts for $968,536. Common Schools received $10,041,694 of the bonus and the Strategic Investment and Improvements Fund $804,134.
Official results
After the sale
Trust Lands oil and gas auction, October 7 to 17, 2025
- Agency
- North Dakota Department of Trust Lands
- Date
- Oct. 7 to 17, 2025
- Platform
- Efficient Markets
- Status
- Final
- Offered
- 708 tracts, 64,156.42 net mineral acres
- Total bonus
- $49,473,686
- Average per acre
- $771 (the department's figure)
- High bid
- $14,572 per acre; $1,490,716 for one tract
Trust Lands offered 708 tracts covering 64,156.42 net mineral acres, and 578 received bids from 51 bidders. The Land Board's summary reports $49,473,686 in total bonus and 4,210 bids. The average is $771 per net acre.[1] The department said it was the highest single-auction total since February 2012.[18]
McKenzie County had 62 tracts on 8,085.60 acres for $18,089,065. Mountrail County had 51 tracts on 3,661.32 acres for $14,142,032, Burke County 71 tracts for $6,095,839, and Divide County 92 tracts for $5,226,950. Billings County had 113 tracts on 12,009.25 acres for $589,607.
Official results
After the sale
Trust Lands oil and gas auction, February 4 to 11, 2025
- Agency
- North Dakota Department of Trust Lands
- Date
- Feb. 4 to 11, 2025
- Platform
- Efficient Markets
- Status
- Final
- Offered
- 136 tracts, 12,793.16 net mineral acres
- Total bonus
- $13,650,142
- Average per acre
- $1,067 (the department's figure)
- High bid
- $30,098 per acre; $2,514,086 for one tract
Trust Lands offered 136 tracts covering 12,793.16 net mineral acres, and every tract received a bid. The department's summary reports $13,650,142 in total bonus, 1,439 bids and 39 of 60 registered bidders placing bids. The average is $1,067 per net acre.[19]
McKenzie County had 31 tracts on 3,263.03 acres for $6,629,113, and Williams County had eight tracts on 761.90 acres for $3,777,813. Billings County's 33 tracts brought $2,907,141. The Strategic Investment and Improvements Fund received $9,618,618 of the bonus and Common Schools $4,016,924.
Official results
After the sale
Jim's take
The first thing I'd say to an owner reading this page is not to take one average as the price of their ground. The October 2025 Trust Lands auction averaged $771 per net acre overall, but McKenzie County tracts averaged $2,237, Mountrail County $3,863 and Billings County $49, going by the Land Board's county table. The federal sales split the same way. July 2026 brought $129.9 million on 27,330 acres. On October 27, one Musselshell County parcel went for the $10 minimum while a McKenzie County parcel brought $11,000 an acre, and McKenzie's 13 parcels averaged about $6,971.
The second thing is how much of a total can ride on a few parcels. Of the $38.0 million in September 2025, Montana's 4,721.82 acres brought $23.5 million. And bonus is a one-time payment at the sale. What an owner collects month to month is royalty, which depends on the lease and on what gets drilled and produced.
If you want to talk through what any of this means for your minerals, I'm glad to.
Jim, Fort Union Minerals
Questions? Email Jim at jim@fortunionminerals.com
Fort Union buys minerals and royalty interests, so we have a commercial interest in this subject. Nothing on this page depends on selling to us, and the figures come from the agency documents linked above. Our editorial standards explain how we source our pages. If you'd like to know what we'd pay for your interest, the offer page is the way to ask.
Sources
These are the sources cited above, in the order we first cite them. We checked each page on October 27, 2026. The sale-by-sale links are listed under each sale.
- Minutes of the Board of University and School Lands, October 30, 2025 (oil and gas auction results summary) — North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, October 30, 2025.
- Montana/Dakotas regional lease sales — Bureau of Land Management, viewed October 27, 2026.
- Government Sales Results — Efficient Markets, viewed October 27, 2026.
- Minerals Management — North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, viewed October 27, 2026.
- BLM announces October 2026 sale of oil and gas leases in Montana/Dakotas — Bureau of Land Management, August 25, 2026.
- Montana-Dakotas Q4 October 2026 Oil and Gas Lease Sale, documents page (Sale Results, protest responses) — BLM ePlanning, viewed October 27, 2026.
- BLM oil and gas lease sale in Montana/Dakotas generates over $130 million in revenue — Bureau of Land Management, July 15, 2026.
- Efficient Markets Hosts Record-Breaking BLM Montana Dakotas Federal Lease Sale — Efficient Markets, July 22, 2026.
- BLM Holds Largest Federal Oil and Gas Auction in North Dakota in 15 Years — Taxpayers for Common Sense, July 14, 2026.
- Record-breaking BLM oil and gas lease sale in the Dakotas generates over $44.3 million in revenue — Bureau of Land Management, April 28, 2026.
- BLM oil and gas lease sales in Montana and North Dakota generate over $8.6 million in revenue — Bureau of Land Management, January 13, 2026.
- BLM announces October 2025 sale of oil and gas leases in North Dakota — Bureau of Land Management, August 19, 2025.
- BLM oil and gas lease sale nets more than $38 million in revenue — Bureau of Land Management, September 15, 2025.
- BLM Montana-Dakotas sold oil and gas leases bring in over $3.4 million — Bureau of Land Management, April 29, 2025.
- BLM holds January 2025 sale for Montana and North Dakota oil and gas leases — Bureau of Land Management, January 22, 2025.
- Board of University and School Lands agenda packet, October 29, 2026 (October 2026 auction results summary) — North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, posted for the October 29, 2026 meeting.
- Board of University and School Lands agenda packet, April 30, 2026 (March 2026 auction results summary) — North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, April 30, 2026.
- Press release: Board of University & School Lands reports highest-grossing single auction of mineral leases in nearly 14 years — North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, November 5, 2025.
- Board of University and School Lands agenda packet, February 27, 2025 (oil and gas auction results summary) — North Dakota Department of Trust Lands, February 27, 2025.
This page is general information from public sources. It isn't legal or tax advice. For your own lease, title or check, talk to a North Dakota attorney.