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U.S. Department of Energy
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Drilling for dollars: the federal oil-lease lottery program

Journal Article · · Regulation; (United States)
OSTI ID:5199798

The program for leasing federal lands for oil and gas drilling brought the federal government over $1 billion in revenues in 1983 from lands that are estimated to contain one-sixth of the country's undiscovered oil and gas resources. In a policy debate over the leasing program, all parties agree that leasing should occur, but differ in how it should be done. The author reviews the two systems followed for onshore leases: a lottery system for parcels with proven oil and gas reserves and a first-come first-served basis for other parcels. Policy debate over the years has focused on the loss of revenue from not using the lottery ticket sales for all leases and the need to increase competitive bidding. The author proposes a flexible multi-tier system that combines competitive and noncompetitive leasing in a way that will increase production and revenues.

Research Organization:
Dept. of the Interior, Washington, DC
OSTI ID:
5199798
Journal Information:
Regulation; (United States), Journal Name: Regulation; (United States); ISSN REGUD
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English