Budget plan takes aim at royalty relief for deepwater leases; seeks permit fee

摘要

Federal coffers could be lined with a little more gold if some provisions in the Interior Department's fiscal 2009 budget request pass Congressional muster this year.rnAmong the measures is a rollback of incentives for deepwater Outer Continental Shelf energy development, as well as the creation of a new oil and natural gas permit processing fee meant to offset some of the costs of Interior's leasing oversight responsibilities.rnThe budget seeks to repeal two parts of the 2005 Energy Policy Act that allowed companies involved in deepwater oil and gas to pay less in royalties.