Activists attend a protest against the legislation that would open Wilderness in Alaska to oil drilling on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. October 17, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Thayer/File Photo
Jan 31 (Reuters) – The Biden administration is considering raising the royalty rate that drilling companies must pay on oil and gas leases it plans to sell in the first quarter of this year, according to draft language about the sales posted on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management web site.
The royalty rate for leases offered this quarter would be 18.75%, up from the 12.5% minimum rate required by law, the post, which was viewed by Reuters on Monday, said.
An Interior Department official said the BLM had inadvertently posted the language. “The BLM accidentally posted some pre-decisional draft language on their website,” the official said.
The post was later removed.
(This story corrects to show the Bureau of Land Management is considering hiking the royalty rate, but has not finalized any hike – the error occurred because BLM inadvertently posted draft language on its web site)
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Reporting by Nichola Groom; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Chris Reese
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