Worries dampen Nevada oil lease sale

Worries about potential protection of sage grouse habitat in eastern Nevada dramatically dampened interest in an auction of oil and gas leases on federal lands last week. Only one parcel out of the 97 offered by the Bureau of Land Management for lease in its Ely district drew a bid. A total of 189,000 acres were leased. Kirkwood Oil & Gas LLC of Casper, Wyo, paid $2 an acre for a lease of 473 acres in Nye County. The lease auctio