Still Short For PXP Buy-out

The money to buy out oil and gas leases in the Noble Basin area of the Wyoming Range is still not in place.  Three days before the deadline to consummate the deal, the Trust of Public Land is still a little over a half-million dollars short of the $8 ¾-million pricetag agreed by Plains Exploration and Production for the 58-thousand acre area and its mineral leases.  Still, the organization’s Rocky Mountain Regional Director Deb Love says they are not giving up.  Love says people have worked too hard for too long in efforts to save the area, and the effort is so close that with the help of a few more people doing whatever they can, the purchase can be made.  Most of the acreage is located within the Bridger-Teton National Forest and includes migratory routes for mule deer, antelope and elk. Love says if developed, PXP would drill about 136 wells from 19 drill pads in the area, and create miles of access roads to reach them.  She says over eight million dollars toward the goal was raised in 90 days and even with only three days left to complete the fundraising, she says she remains optimistic about the buy-out.