The Bureau of Land Management will hold a lease sale on April 29 to open up federal lands in Montana and North Dakota for oil and gas drilling.

The sale will offer 11 parcels totaling 4,266 acres in eastern Montana and western North Dakota. The area is part of the Bakken formation, one of the largest on-shore oil fields in the U.S.

BLM's Montana-Dakotas State Office announced an oil and gas lease sale for April 29. The sale will offer 11 oil and gas parcels in Montana and North Dakota. Companies that bid on the leases must also apply for drilling permits before beginning operations.

A public comment period on the proposed lease sale ended in December 2024, but the BLM has opened a 30-day period for the public to protest the sale that ends on March 30.