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MMS reports record disbursals during fiscal 2008

Oil & Gas Journal

Nick Snow
Washington Editor

WASHINGTON, DC, Nov. 20 -- The US Minerals Management Service disbursed a record $23.4 billion to state, American Indian, and federal accounts from onshore and offshore energy production during fiscal 2008, Interior Secretary Dirk A. Kempthorne said on Nov. 20.

Disbursements from royalties, rents, and bonuses from production on federal land shattered the fiscal 2007 total of $11.6 billion and broke the previous record of $12.8 billion established in 2006, he added.

"Particularly in today's economic environment, these revenues represent an increasingly important source of funding for many federal, state, and tribal budgets," Kempthorne said. Funds disbursed to individual states and tribes support projects ranging from infrastructure improvements and capital works to funding for education, he noted.

Kempthorne attributed the record disbursements to higher energy prices during the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2008, and the more than $10 billion in bonus bids paid by companies to lease tracts in the Gulf of Mexico and offshore Alaska as well as from onshore lease sales.