Federal

Department of Interior (DOI) Secretary Sally Jewell called protesters with the national “Keep It in the Ground” campaign “naïve,” on the grounds that their calls for an immediate shift to renewable energy sources is impossible, and that technological advances in the sector, while progressing, are still many years away.

House Republicans and state regulators sparred with Democrats and the Department of Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at a hearing Wednesday to discuss proposed rules governing flaring and venting of associated natural gas on public and tribal lands, with both sides in open disagreement over whether the BLM has the authority to enact such rules.

House Republicans and state regulators sparred with Democrats and the Department of Interior’s (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at a hearing Wednesday to discuss proposed rules governing flaring and venting of associated natural gas on public and tribal lands, with both sides in open disagreement over whether the BLM has the authority to enact such rules.

The federal government could raise an additional $1.2 billion over the next decade through higher fees and royalties on crude oil and natural gas drillers and revamped oil and gas lease auctions, according to areport from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). While CBO offered no recommendations, it analyzed several options to increase federal income from oil and gas on federal lands. Those options included increasing production by opening new federal lands; repealing tax preferences for companies producing oil or gas on federal lands; imposing fees on non-producing parcels; increasing the royalty rate for onshore production to 18.75% from the current 12.5%; increasing the royalty rate for offshore leases when oil or gas prices reach certain thresholds, and a series of revisions to the Bureau of Land Management’s lease auction process. Gross income from onshore oil and gas resources averaged $3 billion annually from 2005 to 2014, and $8 billion came from offshore resources during the same period, CBO said. Last year, the Department of Interior launched a plan to adjust royalty rates on federal lands (see Daily GPI,April 17, 2015).

The federal government could raise an additional $1.2 billion over the next decade through higher fees and royalties on crude oil and natural gas drillers and revamped oil and gas lease auctions, according to areport from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). While CBO offered no recommendations, it analyzed several options to increase federal income from oil and gas on federal lands. Those options included increasing production by opening new federal lands; repealing tax preferences for companies producing oil or gas on federal lands; imposing fees on non-producing parcels; increasing the royalty rate for onshore production to 18.75% from the current 12.5%; increasing the royalty rate for offshore leases when oil or gas prices reach certain thresholds, and a series of revisions to the Bureau of Land Management’s lease auction process. Gross income from onshore oil and gas resources averaged $3 billion annually from 2005 to 2014, and $8 billion came from offshore resources during the same period, CBO said. Last year, the Department of Interior launched a plan to adjust royalty rates on federal lands (see Daily GPI,April 17, 2015).

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed rules for natural gas flaring and venting on public lands drew skepticism and concern from various state, tribal and industry representatives Thursday during testimony at a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee hearing in Washington, DC.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed rules for natural gas flaring and venting on public lands drew skepticism and concern from various state, tribal and industry representatives Thursday during testimony at a U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee hearing in Washington, DC.

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) urged a federal appellate court to overturn a Wyoming court’s injunction against enforcement of a rule governing hydraulic fracturing (fracking) on public and tribal lands, saying the lower court judge “erred” and had a “crabbed view” of federal regulatory authority.

California state Controller Betty Yee has filed a grievance against Interior Secretary Sally Jewell claiming the federal department has denied the state’s claims for nearly $300,000 in overhead costs related to the state’s auditing of oil/natural gas produced from federal lands.