BLM Opens 35,000 California Acres to December Oil and Gas Lease Sale

The Bureau of Land Management will offer roughly 35,000 acres in California for oil and gas leasing on December 1, putting 43 parcels in Kern, Kings, Fresno and San Luis Obispo counties on the auction block, the agency said on Thursday. The sale follows BLM decisions in June that allowed federal oil and gas leasing to resume in its Bakersfield and Central Coast planning areas after years of litigation and environmental review. Most federal drilling in California already happens in Kern County. BLM says more than 95% of federal drilling in the state…