Royalty

A proposed rule by the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to increase bonding requirements, royalty rates and minimum bids for natural gas and oil producers was met with criticism from the industry.  The draft rule would increase economic returns for the country while ensuring oil and natural gas companies are environmentally responsible…

A federal court has vacated a 2021 settlement that awarded more than $9 million to Pennsylvania landowners that alleged underpayment of royalties by Chesapeake Energy Corp.  The 2021 settlement, filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, was reached following Chesapeake’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. Lessors argued that the third-largest publicly…

Canada’s natural gas, oil and coal mining corporations have reduced exploration and development expenses since 2014 because of economic factors and policy changes, which in turn has cut into annual federal tax revenue, the country’s government watchdog said in a new report.  The Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO), similar to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, reviewed…

North Dakota’s three-member Industrial Commission (IC) on Monday unanimously approved final oil and natural gas administrative rule changes, which include requirements to notify authorities about spills, site assessments and royalty information.

Black Stone Minerals LP, one of the largest owners of oil and natural gas mineral interests in the United States, has entered into a farmout agreement to develop assets in trending plays in East Texas, and plans to acquire a package of properties spread across 20 states from Noble Energy Inc. for $340 million.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is proposing to reduce the royalty rate for Gulf of Mexico (GOM) oil and natural gas leases sold during the August federal sale to 12.5% from 18.75%.

The West Virginia Supreme Court has sided with EQT Production Co. in a dispute over natural gas royalty payments, ruling that producers can deduct post-production costs in calculating the price at the wellhead.

Pennsylvania Republican Senate leaders have sent a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) questioning its plans for a new general permit for unconventional well sites and general permit revisions for natural gas compressor facilities. Senate President Joe Scarnati, Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman and Sen. Gene Yaw, chairman of the energy committee, wrote the agency to say they fear the proposed revisions could jeopardize the industry’s competitiveness. They sent a series of questions asking what justifies the permits and what cost-benefit analysis has been conducted, among other things. The letter follows another from Republican state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe earlier this month accusing the agency of skirting the state’s Regulatory Review Act in opening the permits for public comment. The permits are part of Gov. Tom Wolf’s plans to reduce oil and gas industry emissions. The proposals would also affect remote pigging stations, transmission stations and processing plants. DEP has said it is still early in the process and that it will continue to work with the industry on the changes.

Canadian drilling will stage a modest recovery this year, about one-sixth of the long way back toward the extended activity peak before oil and natural gas prices plunged in mid-2014, according to field service and supply contractors.