Mark-Up

Two more records were broken last week in the rocketing Alberta oil boom. A public auction of government-owned oil and natural-gas leases totaled $12,881,436, surpassing the previous record for a one-day sale by more than $3,000,000. One of the leases, for a 160-acre plot in the Bonnie Glen field southwest of Edmonton, was sold to the Texaco Exploration Co. for $3,110,000, the highest price ever paid for a single parcel of Alberta oil land.

The price looked especially high to Texaco. Five years ago, the company held an exploration lease on the same property, looked the land over briefly, then turned the lease back to the government. The selling price at the time: $160.

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