Leases

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Tuesday narrowly voted to repeal mandatory royalty relief for deepwater oil and natural gas leases, reversing the policy spelled out in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

A 27-year-old college student who bid on 13 natural gas and oil leases in December during a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) auction in Utah — with no intention of paying for them — faces up to 10 years in prison and a hefty fine after being indicted Wednesday on two felony counts.

A 27-year-old college student who bid on 13 natural gas and oil leases in December during a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) auction in Utah — with no intention of paying for them — faces up to 10 years in prison and a hefty fine after being indicted Wednesday on two felony counts.

The Interior Department announced last Monday the first distribution of more than $25 million in bonuses and rents on energy leases in Gulf of Mexico federal waters to coastal states and communities.

The Interior Department Monday announced the first distribution of more than $25 million in bonuses and rents on energy leases in Gulf of Mexico federal waters to coastal states and communities.

Natural gas leases sold in 2006 on about 63,000 acres of endangered black-foot ferret habitat in the Wolf Creek area of northwestern Colorado have been voided by the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) appeals board.

President Bush Tuesday dismissed Democrats’ claims that domestic producers are not actively pursuing their oil and natural gas leases and that excessive speculation is responsible for escalating crude oil prices.

ExxonMobil Corp. has asked Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to reconsider its termination of the North Slope Point Thomson Unit (PTU) leases held by it and BP Exploration (Alaska), Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and ConocoPhillips Alaska. The company also filed a claim with DNR for $800 million in damages as a “precautionary matter” and warned that the PTU termination threatens the state’s gasline plans.

ExxonMobil Corp. has asked Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to reconsider its termination of the North Slope Point Thomson Unit (PTU) leases held by it and BP Exploration (Alaska), Chevron U.S.A. Inc. and ConocoPhillips Alaska. The company also filed a claim with DNR for $800 million in damages as a “precautionary matter” and warned that the PTU termination threatens the state’s gasline plans.