Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers sold a record 4,000 items during the unreserved public auction at its Fort Worth auction site Dec. 2 and 3, including almost 1,200 frac tanks for the oil and gas industry. The auction generated $45 million in gross auction proceeds and attracted more than 2,700 unique onsite and online bidders from 42 countries, including 49 U.S. states. Bidders from as far away as Korea, the U.K. and Nigeria purchased equipment in the auction.

“Our final 2009 auction in Fort Worth was a tremendous success: we sold a record number of items for this site, attracted thousands of bidders from around the world, and generated excellent returns for our consignors,” said Kieran Holm, Ritchie Bros. area manager. “The frac tanks, which are designed for the domestic market, created a lot of interest and brought in bidders from across the U.S. Bidding remained active for all 1,200 frac tanks and pricing stayed strong. In fact, pricing was stronger than we’ve seen all year in most equipment categories.”

Kenny Lewis, owner of Georgetown, Texas-based KC Equipment and a long-time Ritchie Bros. customer, sold a selection of late model equipment in the auction.

“I’m really happy with the results of the auction; the prices we achieved surpassed my expectations,” said Lewis. “This equipment was sitting idle and we were still making payments to the bank, so it made sense to sell. I chose Ritchie Bros. for two reasons: I have a lot of confidence in them and trust what they tell me, and I know they’ll get me the best results. Their global reach is key. Most selling channels are limited to the local region, but Ritchie Bros. brings in those international buyers, which is really important in this economy.”