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Ultra Petroleum Buys Most Of Banning Lewis Ranch

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- A subsidiary of Ultra Petroleum Corp. has completed its $20 million purchase of most of the Banning Lewis Ranch, which the city of Colorado Springs had thought would one day have homes and commercial uses.

Ultra has said it plans to drill there.

The Gazette reports the city and company now have to resolve whether agreements related to the city's 1988 annexation of the ranch should remain in effect.

The city says the agreements will ensure orderly development of the ranch, but Ultra says they would burden drilling efforts.

Ultra Resources had submitted the winning bid for 18,000 acres of the ranch in June after two companies that owned the ranch sought bankruptcy protection last year. Keybank bought the remaining 2,400 acres and plans to sell it.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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