The third largest single sale in Saskatchewan's history was recorded at the June 2008 sale of Crown oil and natural gas rights.

The June sale raised $143.5 million in revenue for the province. It is the third consecutive sale in excess of $100 million, something that has never happened before in Saskatchewan. The year-to-date figure for 2008 now stands at $605.4 million, shattering the previous single-year record of $250.3 million set in 2007.

Once again, the story of the sale was the Weyburn-Estevan area taking in nearly $132.5 million of the proceeds. This was followed by the Kindersley-Kerrobert area at $7.1 million. The Lloydminster area brought in $2 million and the Swift Current area brought in over $900,000.

In the Weyburn-Estevan area, the sale averaged out to $1,595 per hectare ($645.52 per acre). This compares to $207.4 million at the last sale, an average of $5,044.92 per hectare ($2,041.61 per acre).

In total, 10 licenses were posted for 65,759 hectares, with all 10 being sold for $77.2 million, an average of $1,175 per hectare. There were 147 leases in the area posted at this sale with 143 sold for bonuses of $55.2 million, an average of $3,193 per hectare.

The top purchaser of acreage in the area was Standard Land Company Inc. who spent $60.9 million to acquire six lease parcels and three licenses. Standard added one more lease parcel elsewhere to make them the top purchaser in the province.

Two new records were also set at the June sale. The first was the highest price paid for a single license at just under $39 million. Standard Land Company Inc. purchased this 9,094 hectare exploration license located south of Lake Alma, near the Canada-United States border.

The second record was the price paid on a per-hectare basis at over $42,550. Windfall Resources Ltd. purchased this 150 hectare (369 acre) parcel, located six kilometres north of Stoughton adjacent to the Melrose Frobisher-Alida Beds pool, for more than $6.3 million. This was also the top price paid for a single lease in the area at $6.4 million.

The next sale of Crown petroleum and natural gas dispositions will be Monday, Aug. 11.