Taxpayers should be getting more from Utah’s public lands, group says

 Utah made $1.4 billion in royalty revenue from gas and oil production on public lands over the last decade. But a nonpartisan watchdog group reports that taxpayers missed out on millions because of the below-market royalty rate that the federal government charges oil and gas companies while also footing the bill for cleaning up wells after they close.

The Bureau of Land Management in Utah — and Utah’s taxpayers — would have received an additional $721 million between 2013 and 2022 had the agency charged the same royalty rate it does in federal waters, according to a report released this week by Taxpayers for Common Sense.

...In July, the Department of the Interior proposed increased bonding requirements, royalties and minimum bids for oil and gas leasing on public lands, many of which had not been updated in decades. Interior hopes that these changes will dissuade oil and gas companies from entering leases speculatively, ensure fair returns for taxpayers and protect natural resources...more