Methane, the primary component of natural gas, is a valuable energy resource. When methane is lost during production and distribution, American taxpayers, consumers, and local communities all pay the price.
On August 21, 2026, Taxpayers for Common Sense released a new report, Burning Billions, examining how much natural gas has been lost from federal leases over the last decade, where those losses occurred, how much taxpayers have lost in royalty revenue, and why routine methane waste continues despite decades of oversight and repeated calls for reform.
Key Findings:
- Over the last 10 years, 209 billion cubic feet of natural gas, worth an estimated $658 million, were lost on federal lands.
- If that gas had instead been captured and sold, it would have met the annual energy needs of 8 million households.
- Had a fair market royalty rate of 18.75% been assessed on all of this lost gas , taxpayers would have received an additional $70 million in royalty revenue.
- Technologies to detect and reduce methane waste have become more cost-effective and are already used by many oil and gas operators. Yet years of regulatory uncertainty have discouraged investment by rewarding operators that continue routine waste while providing little advantage to those that invest in reducing it.
