BLM botched pandemic oil and gas relief program — GAO

E&E News: The Interior Department bungled its controversial offer of royalty relief to oil and gas operators as the pandemic-fueled oil price crash increased financial risk in the federal oil patch, according to a Government Accountability Office report released today.

The Bureau of Land Management penned the guidance in the spring during early COVID-19 surges in the U.S. to "prevent oil and gas wells from being shut down in a way that could lead to permanent losses of recoverable oil and gas," the report said. It was intended to help operators navigate existing royalty relief regulations and promised a five-day turnaround on applications.

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