The following is a statement by Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense on the Bureau of Land Management’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking on “Oil and Gas Leasing; Royalty on Production, Rental Payments, Minimum Acceptable Bids, Bonding Requirements, and Civil Penalty Assessments”:

Taxpayers deserve a fair return on the development of publically owned assets. For too long, royalty rates for oil and gas development on public lands have lagged behind royalties charged by other land owners. Some states have long charged rates twice the federal government’s. Taxpayers for Common Sense applauds the Department of Interior raising the royalty rate for onshore oil and development on public lands. This is a first step to help ensure that companies pay their fair share and taxpayers receive fair market value for our assets. Interior can’t stop here.  There are other areas to improve, from increasing bonding rates, raising rents as well as royalties, increasing civil penalties and other ways to redue long term liabilities, but this is step in the right direction.

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