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A Fair Share: The Case for Updating Oil and Gas Royalties on Our Public Lands

A Fair Share: The Case for Updating Oil and Gas Royalties on Our Public Lands

Full Title: A Fair Share: The Case for Updating Oil and Gas Royalties on Our Public Lands
Author(s):  Center for Western Priorities
Publisher(s): Center for Western Priorities
Publication Date: June 1, 2015
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):

Antiquated federal royalty rates for onshore oil and gas development are depriving taxpayers and many Western states of urgently needed revenue that could be used to pay down the national debt, expand access to recreation opportunities, protect public lands, and improve infrastructure strained by oil and gas drilling operations. The onshore oil and gas royalty rate on U.S. public lands has not been updated since the 1920s, remaining at 12.5 percent.

Most oil and gas producing states in the Western United States charge a significantly higher royalty rate than the federal government—typically a rate of 16.67 percent or 18.75 percent—to produce oil and gas on state owned lands. Texas collects twice the federal rate in royalties

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