Book Description

The Minerals Mgmt. Service (MMS) collected over $9 billion in oil and gas royalties in FY 2007. These royalties -- payments made to the fed. gov¿t. for the right to produce oil and gas from fed. lands and waters -- represent one of the country¿s largest non-tax sources of revenues. This report includes recommendations to strengthen the royalty collections program. This report determines: (1) whether there has been adequate assurance that fed. oil and gas are measured accurately; (2) whether MMS¿s royalty info. tech. system and royalty collection and verification processes provide sufficient assurance that all royalties are being collected; and (3) the extent to which MMS¿s compliance efforts provide an adequate check on industry¿s self-reported data.