Energy investor takes a chance on public land at bargain rates

London-based oil and gas company Highlands Natural Resources has plans to acquire drilling rights to federal land in eastern Montana, according to The New York Times.

The firm acquired nearly 67,000 acres east of Miles City in a special noncompetitive sale, about $1.50 an acre a year in rent, compared with the more than $100-an-acre average paid by bidders, on top of rent, in competitive auctions in Montana in the final four years of the Obama administration.

Highlands Natural Resources has plans to acquire more acreage.

The New York Times reported the Trump administration has created an opening for this land at a super-low price. The buyers are hoping the land will increase in value, nonetheless, because of higher energy prices, new technologies that could make exploration and drilling more economical, or the emergence of markets for other resources hidden beneath the surface.