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According to the U.S. Department of Interior, oil and gas production from Federal and Indian lands and waters accounted for 923 million barrels of crude oil and 4.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in fiscal year 2018. Such production supported $85.4 billion in value added, $139 billion in economic output, and 607,000 jobs. For that reason, access to Federal lands for oil and gas exploration and development purposes is essential to the economy of the United States; however, environmental stewardship is key to good governance of public land development.
The oil and gas industry must comply with a variety of different laws and regulations specific to the leasing of Federal lands for oil and gas exploration and development, which will be presented later in this guide, in addition to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Marine Mammals Protection Act (MMPA), and the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Along with the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM), other Federal agencies have authority to administer and manage oil and gas exploration, development, and production projects on Federal lands. Those agencies include the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR), the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service.
This guide is intended to present a collection of legal resources relating to the development of oil and gas resources on Federal public land. While the Center for Agricultural and Shale Law makes every effort to maintain and update the content furnished in this guide, no warranty or other guarantee is made regarding the timeliness or accuracy of any information provided.
