Government Could Gain Millions Under Maloney Oil Royalty Bill

WASHINGTON, DC – In a time when the federal deficit is skyrocketing, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (NY-14) has introduced a bill which could help increase payments to the government from energy leases under Federal onshore and offshore lands by ensuring an accurate accounting of the resources extracted from those lands.

Maloney’s bill, H.R. 1462, the “Study of Ways to Improve the Accuracy of the Collection of Federal Oil, Condensate, and Natural Gas Royalties Act of 2009,” would require the National Academy of Engineering to analyze methods which could improve the accuracy of royalties granted by leases underneath Federal and Indian Tribal lands on the extraction of oil, condensate and natural gas. Upon the completion of the study mandated by this legislation, Congress, the Minerals Management Service, and the Bureau of Land Management would have a better understanding of changes that must be made to make the process more accurate and transparent.

“The benefit to the American taxpayer could be significant because the government just doesn’t know how accurate the methods for counting the resources extracted from Federal lands are now,”  Rep. Maloney said. “The potential for oil and gas companies to ‘cook the books’ under the present system is too huge to tolerate, especially as the Federal budget deficit expands to meet our current financial crisis.

“The resources extracted from these lands are owned by the American people, including Indian Tribes, and they should be fairly and accurately compensated. This study will prove invaluable in accomplishing that goal-- and will tell us if there is a problem with the collection of royalties from public lands and Indian Tribal lands,” Maloney said.

Original co-sponsors of the bill are Reps. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), and Shelley Berkley (D-NV).

For the full text of the bill, click here .

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