BLM Royalty for Lost Oil and Gas (Onshore Federal & Indian Leases)

Current understanding

The Bureau of Land Management is proposing to revise its regulations governing royalties owed on oil and gas lost (through venting, flaring, or leaks) from onshore federal and Indian leases. The stated goals are to reduce compliance burdens on operators and streamline royalty determinations, implementing directives from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and Executive Order 14154. The rule is at the proposed-rule stage; practical effects on federal/tribal revenue, methane waste, and operator reporting obligations remain to be assessed through the comment process.

Evidence log

• 2026-06-24 — Oil and Gas Leasing: Related BLM leasing rulemaking proposes to roll back 2024 bonding requirements and revise royalty distribution under the Royalty Resiliency Act, part of the same OBBBA/EO-driven package that includes the lost oil and gas royalty revisions. (novelty: 3)
• 2026-06-24 — Royalty for Oil and Gas Lost From Onshore Federal and Indian Leases: cross-connection with methane-waste-emissions-charge: Royalty treatment of vented/flared/leaked gas from federal leases interacts with EPA’s methane waste emissions charge — both influence the economics of methane loss on oil and gas operations. (novelty: 2)

Open questions

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