Oil and gas companies that drill offshore or on public lands are required to pay royalties on the value of the resources they extract. It's the mechanism that ensures taxpayers receive a fair return when private companies develop publicly owned resources. However, because of outdated energy policy and persistent mismanagement of how royalties are assessed and collected, companies often pay little or nothing to the owners of the publicly owned oil and gas—the U.S. taxpayers.
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Photo Credits:
- Photo by: David Korzilius, BLM
