Opportunity To Increase Oil and Gas Exploration and Lease Rental Income

Gao ID: RCED-83-77 April 28, 1983

GAO reviewed the Department of the Interior's onshore oil and gas leasing system to determine whether Federal lands adjacent to wilderness or potential wilderness lands administrated by the Forest Service could be leased when such lands are included in noncompetitive, over-the-counter oil and gas lease applications.

GAO found that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has delayed issuing leases on over a million acres of leasable Federal lands in the seven States covered by the review, because the BLM State offices and Forest Service regional offices have not developed cooperative arrangements to process nonwilderness portions of lease applications that also include wilderness or potential wilderness lands. The delays result in reduced Federal acreage available for oil and gas exploration and development and potential losses of significant rental income.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: John W. Sprague Team: General Accounting Office: Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division Phone: (202) 512-7783


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