Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and other House lawmakers have written a letter to the Interior Department citing ways for the agency to potentially improve its collection of royalties on oil and natural gas produced from federal and tribal lands.

“We have been concerned for some time about the process by which oil, natural gas, condensate and associated natural gases are extracted from federal and tribal landholdings. Specifically, we are concerned with Minerals Management Service’s [MMS] methods for collecting royalties on these oil and gas extractions, and believe that the Interior Department’s inspection, auditing and enforcement activities must result in proper revenue collections,” the House lawmakers said in letters to MMS Director Johnnie Burton and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Colleen Clarke earlier this month.

They called on the MMS and BLM to comment on whether 37 recommended changes could improve the accuracy of royalty accounting. Many of the proposals mirror those of Jack Grynberg, CEO of the Grynberg Petroleum Co., an oil and natural gas producer based in Denver, CO. Some of the recommended changes would:

In addition to Maloney, the other lawmakers who signed the letter were Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), George Miller (D-CA), Thomas G. Tancredo (R-CO), Edward Markey (D-MA) and Bernard Sanders (I-VT).

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