Contact: Anthony de Bruyn, (512) 499-4363

Date: May 19, 2004

UT System News Release

105th Lease Sale Earns Record Amount for Permanent University Fund

AUSTIN – The Board for Lease of University Lands announced Wednesday (May 19) that bids received for the lease of state-owned oil and gas lands were the highest in more than 20 years. Additionally, the bonuses paid by the successful bidders were the highest on record.

Serving in his official capacity as chairman of the Board for Lease of University Lands, Texas Land Commissioner Jerry E. Patterson announced that $37.9 million dollars in high bids were accepted at the sale. The monies will be deposited into the Permanent University Fund.

The leases awarded cover 43,300 acres in eight West Texas counties. The counties are: Andrews, Martin, Loving, Winkler, Upton, Crockett, Schleicher, and Pecos. The average bonus per acre was $876.

“These numbers clearly show the bullish nature of oil and gas investments in the region and, in particular, University Lands,” said Commissioner Patterson after the board approved the results of the Midland bid opening. The sale was the 105th oil and gas lease conducted by the board.

In addition to Chairman Patterson, the board is composed of two regents from the University of Texas System and one regent from the Texas A&M University System.

Dr. Judith Craven, a member of the board and a UT regent, expressed her appreciation to the oil and gas industry for their continued interest in University Lands.

The board is responsible for overseeing the oil and gas activities on 2.1 million acres of Permanent University Fund lands spread across 19 West Texas counties. This land was dedicated to The University of Texas System by the State of Texas in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Over the years, these activities have directly generated over $3.6 billion held as an endowment trust for The University of Texas System and Texas A&M University System.

Information about these sales may be obtained from the office of University Lands, P.O. Box 553, Midland, Texas 79702-0553, telephone (432) 684-4404, and fax (432) 682-7456. Additional information about University Lands, including oil and gas production and well data, is available on the Internet at www.utlands.utsystem.edu

The UT System has 15 campuses, including nine academic and six health institutions, an enrollment exceeding 177,000 students, more than 87,000 employees and an annual operating budget of $7.8 billion. The UT System confers one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates three-fourths of the state's health care professionals annually.