Utah Activist Disrupts Sale of Leases for Drilling - Hosed 'Em [View All]

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December 20, 2008

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An environmental activist disrupted an auction of oil and gas drilling leases Friday by bidding up parcels of land by hundreds of thousands of dollars with no intention of paying for them, a federal official said.

The process was thrown into chaos and the bidding halted for a time before the auction was closed, with 116 parcels totaling 148,598 acres having sold for $7.2 million plus fees.

“He’s tainted the entire auction,” said Kent Hoffman, deputy state director for the federal Bureau of Land Management in Utah.

Mr. Hoffman said buyers had 10 days to reconsider and withdraw their bids if they thought they had paid too much.

The activist, Tim DeChristopher, a 27-year-old University of Utah economics student, said he had accomplished his goal of disrupting the auction.

Mr. DeChristopher won the bidding on 13 parcels, auction records show, and drove up the price of several others.

Some bidders said they were forced to bid thousands of dollars more for their parcels, while others said they were angry over lost bids.

“We were hosed,” said Jason Blake of Park City, a consulting geologist who was outbid on a 320-acre parcel . . .


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/us/21drilling.html?pagewanted=print