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Federal officials indefinitely postponed a Wyoming coal lease sale scheduled for Wednesday, apparently in response to what many observers consider a lowball bid on another federal coal lease on Monday in Montana.

Navajo Transitional Energy Company, the only bidder, stunned coal market watchers with an offer of $186,000 for 167 million tons of federal coal associated with its Spring Creek mine in southeast Montana — a fraction of a penny per ton and woefully low compared to past federal coal lease sales in the region. The last such major sale in the region, in 2012, netted $793 million for 721 million tons, or about $1.10 per ton, according to fede

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