3:59 Just when it looked like 40 orphaned natural-gas wells in northwestern South Dakota would finally be plugged, the story took a turn into the realm of cryptocurrency. A Texas company, Spyglass Cedar Creek, drilled the wells 15 years ago on the vast grasslands in the vicinity of Buffalo. South Dakota was stuck holding the bag after the project failed, because the state had only required the company to post about $30,000 in bonds. Last fall, the state hired a contractor to plug the wells for about $430,000. The contractor finished seven of the wells before pausing for the winter. Then, multiple companies expressed interest in the remaining wells. So the state put the mineral rights associated with seven of the un-plugged wells up for a lease auction last month. A Wyoming company, Highwire Energy Partners, won the leases for $58,640.