DENVER (AP) — Bonanza Creek Energy Inc. has agreed to pay nearly $60 million over five years to lease 5,600 acres of oil and gas rights in Weld County.

The money will help pay for public education in Colorado. Bonanza Creek has been active in the Greater Wattenberg field for over a decade and has drilled more than 250 wells in the region.

The State Land Board that approved the lease was established in 1876 to manage more than 3 million acres of land and 4 million acres of mineral rights which the federal government gave to Colorado to generate revenue for public education and some state institutions.

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