But critics see little evidence for that.

Taxpayers for Common Sense, a budget watchdog group, said that the royalty rate cuts coupled with other rollbacks — reinstating provisions that allow developers to secure noncompetitive leases for minimal sums, and the elimination of a fee to nominate land for auction — will undo the 2022 law’s efforts to modernize leasing programs.

The group pointed to estimates that the changes will cut billions of dollars in federal revenue, as well as billions more in state revenue. Oil and gas royalty revenues are split between the federal government and the state government where the leasing occurs.

On their own lands, states like Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas will charge royalties as high as 25 percent, according to the group