For the government, this oilfield is history; presidential-scandal Teapot Dome sold for $45M

A private company finally will be able to legally drill for oil in part of Wyoming that's best known for a 1920s presidential scandal.

The Energy Department announced Friday that it has finalized the sale of the Teapot Dome oilfield to New York-based Stranded Oil Resources Corporation for $45.2 million.

Most of the easily accessible oil in the 9,500-acre oilfield 35 miles north of Casper already has been tapped.

Stranded Oil specializes in recharging depleted oil fields with techniques such as injecting carbon dioxide underground.

Teapot Dome remains best known for a scandal that embroiled President Warren G. Harding, whose interior secretary took bribes to allow drilling in the oilfield. Teapot Dome was supposed to have been reserved as emergency fuel for the U.S. Navy.