Sidebar: Answers I Wish I Heard (part 2)

During the debate, when Businessman Romney and President Obama were arguing about drilling for oil and natural gas on federal lands, the first thought that came into my head was that I was woefully unenlightened on this issue.

I did a little research on the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) website, as they're the folks who handle the leasing and permitting for use of federal lands. Conveniently they have compiled a bunch of oil and gas statistics together, so it's pretty easy to see what's what.

Here are some of the statistics as of November 2011, the last report published:

• There were 49,173 leases in effect; 22,682 were producing leases.
• There were 36,463,410 acres of land under lease, with only 12,316,233 considered producing acres

So how do the leases work?  Oil and gas companies lease the land for several years, paying a fee for the lease, with prices ranging as high as a couple million dollars.  There's also a yearly fee, which could be as much as $200,000, and there's a royalty that's paid to the federal government, ranging from 12% - 18% once the wells are drilled and start producing, according to a CNN Money article published last year.

OK - so about 53% of the leases and 66% of the acres are not producing, which means that we're getting the annual fees but we're not getting the royalties on them. And I have to wonder how that's the Obama administration's fault? 

I also have to wonder, how come I'm not getting a check from the Feds for my share of the royalty pool for the leases and acres that are producing?  I mean, these are federal lands, which mean they're supported by my taxes. Not only that, but if I want to use the federal lands I own, such as visiting a national park, I have to pay an admission fee. So that means I'm being double-dipped to enjoy my own land?  Doesn't seem right, does it? And wouldn't a nice royalty check help smooth that over? 

Heck, look at Alaska. They established the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp back in the late 1970's and have been paying residents dividends from the fund since 1980. Their fund is worth over $40 billion dollars now - imagine how big one for the Federal royalties could be? 

Seriously, after the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010, where over 200 million gallons of oil flowed into the Gulf of Mexico (and more is leaking now), I'm not sure I have the stomach for more drilling on my land.