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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Battle Mountain District is considering three parcels of land for leasing in the Oil & Gas Competitive Lease Sale scheduled for Dec. 9, 2026. The three parcels located directly south of Carlin and just east of Nevada Highway 278 total 2,642.27 acres in the Rocky Gulch area.
“All three [parcels] are in the Mount Lewis Field Office…BLM management will decide which parcels to make available for leasing and which stipulations and lease notices to attach,” informed BLM project manager Melissa Jennings.
Oil and gas leases are issued for a 10-year period and continue for as long thereafter as oil or gas is produced in paying quantities. If a lessee fails to produce oil and gas, does not make annual rental payments, does not comply with the terms and conditions of the lease, or relinquishes the lease, ownership of the minerals revert to the federal government and the lease can be resold.
A public scoping period will take place from May 4 to June 3. Interested parties are encouraged to review the parcel list and map, and submit comments through the “Participate Now” link on the project’s webpage. The project webpage can be found by visiting eplanning.blm.org and entering either the NEPA Number (DOI-BLM-NV-B000-2026-0001-EA) or Project Name of “2026 Battle Mountain District Oil & Gas Lease Sale.”
“Public scoping is an opportunity for the public to provide input (concerns or describe issues) that they would like to see considered in an environmental analysis of the sale of the parcels,” Jennings explained. “The sale itself is not an authorization to use public land, but a lease gives the lessee some rights to future activities on the lease parcels.”
Purchasers of oil and gas leases are required to abide by all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations. This includes obtaining all required permits if they develop the lease.
If leases are issued and lease operations are proposed in the future, BLM would conduct additional project specific National Environmental Policy Act analysis when an Application for Permit to Drill (APD) or other exploration, development or production project application is submitted.