Posted on 04/15/2022 1:50:52 PM PDT by bitt
The Interior Department on Friday announced another round of oil and gas lease sales on public lands as well as an increase in royalty rates.
The administration initially froze new leasing on public lands shortly after President Biden took office, but a federal district court that summer issued an injunction against the order. The department cited that injunction in announcing the lease sales.
In the announcement, the department said the Interior Department will issue final sales notices for the upcoming sales Monday. The Interior Department also announced a royalty hike, increasing rates from 12.5 to 18.75 percent.
“How we manage our public lands and waters says everything about what we value as a nation. For too long, the federal oil and gas leasing programs have prioritized the wants of extractive industries above local communities, the natural environment, the impact on our air and water, the needs of Tribal Nations, and, moreover, other uses of our shared public lands,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.
“Today, we begin to reset how and what we consider to be the highest and best use of Americans’ resources for the benefit of all current and future generations,” Haaland added.
In October, the Bureau of Land Management said that it will incorporate national greenhouse gas emissions in oil and gas leasing decisions. Separately, the federal government also said it would incorporate the so-called social cost of carbon into leasing decisions and other regulations.
Judge James Cain, a Trump appointee, blocked the use of the metric in February, but an appeals court overturned the ruling in March. The same week, the department announced new lease sales would proceed following the ruling.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
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So THAT’s how you increase oil availability and lower prices?!
they are jacking up the royalties 50%, took away 80% of the available land.
the admin was getting scared when they heard MANY seniors complaining about going over budget after retiring..and thinking they might have to go back to work..
Makes good political sense. The get the money during their term while the difference in energy output won’t be felt until the next guys are in office.
Disgusting but logical.
It’s not the leases, stupid! It’s the crap that needs approval up to the point where you actually stick a drill bit into the ground.
So royalty rates are unregulated? I doubt it.
“It’s not the leases, stupid! It’s the crap that needs approval up to the point where you actually stick a drill bit into the ground.” No oil, no royalty. A dry hole is worthless to uncle sam also as they are probably very inefficient vetting leases.
A lease cost less the environmental impact statement and required forms that have to be filed with EPA dweebs. The approval of road building to the drill pad cost more than the impact statement. A very real cost savings of horizontal drilling is employees spend their time next to well head than busy driving between drill sites to find that unicorn spare part or in quest of appearance of being busy.
Democrats are morons. Who ultimately pays for the royalty increase? Biden just raised the price of gasoline again. Eff’ idiot.
“incorporate national greenhouse gas emissions in oil and gas leasing decisions”
They can’t destroy the energy industry fast enough. In my younger dumber days I would have been consumed with hatred for these demons in DC. BUT. I’m not going to go that way. That’s for antifa terrorists.
Leasing us one thing, permitting is another.
Many years ago, when I had an involvement of sorts with leasing, the federal government folks would set royalty rates from about 1/8 to 1/3 (12.5% - 33.3%), or use sliding scale royalties (royalty rate would vary with production rate). The highest rates were reserved for acreage with the least risk, that was most likely to produce (picture a lease being offered adjacent to a producing field or mine).
If the feds screwed up and set the royalty rate higher than was justified by the data & risk analysis, the lease would often get no bids, or if actually leased, might never get drilled (because even breaking even would be more difficult with a higher percentage going to Uncle Sam, right off the top). Conversely, the federal government could legally reduce existing royalty rates on producing leases, if a rate reduction would delay abandonment and extend the productive life of the property.
Bottom line: an across-the-board royalty rate increase is just another way to discourage domestic oil & gas production.
Gotcha...
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