FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Ike Obi
media@taxpayer.net
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 23, 2026 — A new analysis by Taxpayers for Common Sense (TCS) finds that 482,000 acres of federal land in Nevada currently leased for oil and gas development are nonproducing. These inactive leases generate no return for taxpayers while blocking alternative uses, such as recreation or other resource development. Federal and Nevada taxpayers also missed out on an estimated $8 million in royalty revenue and at least $2.6 million in bid revenue over the last decade because of outdated federal leasing terms. At the same time, if outdated federal bonding rules return, taxpayers could face approximately $6.6 million in unrecovered cleanup costs from currently producing wells in Nevada.
The report, No Dice in Nevada: Decades of Federal Leasing Have Cost Taxpayers, examines a decade of oil and gas production on the half a million acres of federal land currently leased in Nevada and documents how outdated federal leasing policies have locked thousands of acres into nonproducing leases, reduced public revenues, and exposed taxpayers to significant financial risks.
Between 2016 and 2025, the federal government offered 2.7 million acres of Nevada’s public land for oil and gas development at public auctions, the second most in the country behind Wyoming. Yet, only a fraction was ever leased, and an even smaller percentage entered production. More than half a million acres are currently leased, but only 5.7 percent of that acreage is actually producing. Continuing to lease areas with low development potential ties up public lands while delivering little return to taxpayers and potentially foreclosing alternative land uses.
The report also details how the noncompetitive leasing process, which was recently reinstated by Congress, has allowed companies to acquire more than a quarter a million acres of public land in Nevada immediately after it was offered at auction without paying a minimum bid, costing federal and state taxpayers at least $2.6 million. Noncompetitive leasing is widely abused by speculators, and leases issued this way are statistically less likely to ensure production and generate significantly less revenue than competitively issued leases.
“The federal onshore leasing program should be competitive, transparent, and grounded in the principle of fair return,” said Autumn Hanna, Vice President of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “Noncompetitive leasing is a loophole that lets companies sidestep market forces, speculate on public lands, and shift the financial risks to taxpayers. And nowhere is this issue more flagrant than in Nevada, where more than half of all federal land leased over the last decade has been done noncompetitively, sometimes for just $0.25 an acre. Our public lands are worth more than that.”
The findings come as the Bureau of Land Management prepares to auction more than 10,000 acres of public land in Nevada for oil and gas development on June 23, with any unleased land available for noncompetitive leasing the very next day.
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Taxpayers for Common Sense is an independent, nonpartisan budget watchdog serving the American taxpayer since 1995. Learn more at www.taxpayer.net.
