Audit: Pa. game commission didn't track energy royalties

摘要

The Pennsylvania Game Commission failed to make sure that energy companies paid what they owed inroyalties from oil and gas production on state hunting lands, according to an audit released yesterday.The commission relied on the drillers' own data and didn't confirm their royalty calculations were accurate or thatthey actually paid the money, state auditors found.The game commission, which manages state-owned hunting lands, permits drillers to extract natural gas fromthe vast Marcellus Shale formation in exchange for royalties, which rose from $9.3 million in 2015 to $19.2 millionin 2017. About 133,700 acres of game lands are under lease.