"The Ute Paradox"

"Then-Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne flashed a big grin as he opened the Minerals Management Service's Lease Sale 206 in the Louisiana Superdome on March 19, 2008. Eighty-five oil companies were vying for the chance to drill in the Gulf of Mexico. With oil selling for over $100 per barrel, the Superdome hadn't seen such a frenzy since Beyoncé kicked off her tour here a year earlier.

High bids totaled more than $3.5 billion, a new record, for access to more than 28 million acres of sea-bottom. BP, the international energy giant, paid $34 million for the 5,760 acres known as Mississippi Canyon block 252 -- a disastrous purchase in retrospect, since the well that was eventually drilled there was the one that exploded and caused the current mess in the Gulf.

Also bidding for block 252 was Red Willow Offshore, LLC, with a $14 million offer that came up short. The company has made a splash in the Gulf of Mexico in recent years, typically partnering with others on deepwater endeavors. But Red Willow Offshore is not your average international oil company. It is the wholly owned subsidiary of a small American Indian nation -- the Southern Ute Tribe in southwestern Colorado."

Jonathan Thompson reports for the High Country News issue dated July 19, 2010.