Interior requests views on fee increases

The Department of the Interior is seeking public comments on potential increases in various fees that the Bureau of Land Management charges for oil and gas exploration, development and production on federal land. The target fees include lease sale minimum bids, rental rates and the royalties the federal government obtains from oil and gas production.

“It’s time to have a candid conversation about whether the American taxpayer is getting the right return for the development of oil and gas resources on public lands,” said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. “The BLM’s regulations have not kept pace with technological advances and market conditions, so this is an important information-gathering step as we seek to improve the way the federal government does business.”

Currently the royalty rate for oil and gas produced from federal lands is 12.5 percent of the value of the produced resource. But the Government Accountability Office has repeatedly said that BLM’s regulations do not provide a reasonable assurance that the public is receiving a fair share of the production revenues, Interior says.

“As part of this (fee review) process, the BLM and the department will conduct a thorough analysis of the cost of doing business on federal lands, and we welcome input from all parties on how taxpayers can be better assured adequate compensation from oil and gas production on public lands,” said Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Janice Schneider. “We also want to ensure those resources are developed diligently and responsibly and that financial assurances and penalties reflect the true costs of modern day oil and gas development and reclamation.”

The public comment period for the fee review will last for 45 days from the date when Interior publishes a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, during the week of April 27.

- Alan Bailey