A federal advisory panel suggests cutting the federal royalty rate for deepwater drilling operations from 18.75 percent to 12.5 percent, the lowest rate the government can charge for such leases. (Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)An Interior Department advisory panel is considering whether the federal government should sharply cut the royalty rate that oil and gas firms pay for deepwater drilling while expediting energy development on federal land in Alaska and elsewhere. Interior officials lowered the rate for shallow-water drilling to 12.5 percent during a Gulf of Mexico lease sale last summer. Schindler noted that the charter requires that 22 percent of panel members hail from industry. “The department has invited the oil and gas industry and coal industry to sit with them and help write the rules,” she said.

Source: Washington Post February 26, 2018 14:55 UTC