A collapse in oil and gas leasing on federally-owned land in six Western US states is costing the US economy jobs and federal royalties as well as limiting access to domestic energy resources, a recent oil industry backed study says.
The number of new leases issued by the Bureau of Land Management is down 44% from the 2007-2008 period to the 2009-2010 period. There was a slight uptick in leasing activity in 2011, but the American Petroleum Institute, which released the study says that much of the leasing last year was double-counting and actual new leases hit a low last set in 1984. Keep reading →