High Oil Prices Good News for at least a few in Green Country

Members of the Osage Nation received good news this week at a live oil-lease auction. The Tulsa World is reporting,

Oil and gas leases sold Wednesday at a live auction by the Osage Nation garnered roughly three times the amount per lease as a similar auction in March, tribal officials said.

They cited higher oil prices for much of the increase…Wednesday’s auction at the tribal council chambers in Pawhuska featured 36 leases totaling more than 5,000 acres. All sold — 16 for more than $20,000 each, and one for about $43,000, said Joe Hughlett, director of the Osage Minerals Department. The day’s total take was $643,900.

According to Indianz.com,

The royalties from the leases end up in the hands of individual Osages. But the tribe is claiming that it owns the mineral estate as part of the Cobell trust fund lawsuit.