Independent Natural Gas and Oil Producers Present Their Concerns with BLM's Proposed Rulemaking Addressing Royalty Rates and Penalties' Assessments for Federal Onshore Leases

摘要

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in April published an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR) soliciting public comments and suggestions that may be used to amend BLM’s regulations “related to royalty rates, annual rental payments, minimum acceptable bids, bonding requirements, and civil penalty assessments for Federal onshore oil and gas leases.” On June 19, in joint comments the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and Western Energy Alliance attempt to dissuade the Bureau from adopting what the independent producers consider to be sweeping changes that will significantly modify the agency’s onshore oil and natural gas leasing program.