Associated Press - July 2, 2009 2:25 PM ET
GILLETTE, Wyo. (AP) - Amid a slowdown in the energy industry, a Wyoming auction of oil field equipment has netted $8.2 million from 1,100 bidders.
The auction was Tuesday in Gillette. A dozen companies offered 480 pieces of equipment, including trucks, trailers, tractors, loaders and hydraulic excavators.
The total bid was about what auctioneers had predicted.
The sale was conducted by Ritchie Brothers Auctioneers. The company says 450 Wyoming bidders were registered, but only 142 of them bought equipment.
Ritchie Brothers says about 60% of the equipment left the state.
Steve Merich, regional manager for Ritchie Brothers, says prices for heavy equipment are depressed everywhere, not just in the Powder River Basin around Gillette in northeast Wyoming.
He says prices are down between 15 and 25% from a year ago.
Information from: The Gillette News Record - Gillette, http://www.gillettenewsrecord.com
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