Tabla de Contenidos:
  • Intro; Contents; Preface; Chapter 1; Oil and Gas Wells: Bureau of Land Management Needs to Improve Its Data and Oversight of Its Potential Liabilities(; Abbreviations; Why GAO Did This Study; What GAO Recommends; What GAO Found; Background; BLM Headquarters, State, and Field Offices; Lifecycle of Oil and Gas Wells; BLM's Bonding Regulations; BLM's 2012 Well Review and 2013 Bond Adequacy Review Policies; BLM's Actual Reclamation Costs and Potential Oil and Gas Well Liabilities Have Likely Increased, But the Agency Does Not Systematically Track These
  • The Extent to which BLM Implemented Its Well Review Policy and Bond Adequacy Review Policy Directives Is UnclearInconsistent Well Review Information; Inaccurate Well and Bond Data in AFMSS; Inadequate Monitoring of Well and Bond Policies' Implementation; Agency Officials and Stakeholders Identified Several Challenges BLM Faces in Managing Its Potential Oil and Gas Well Liabilities; BLM Faces Challenges Identifying and Managing Shut-in Wells and Preventing Them from Becoming Orphaned; BLM Faces Challenges Related to Limited Resources and Competing Priorities
  • Agency Officials and Stakeholders Identified Several Additional Challenges BLM Faces in Managing Its Potential LiabilitiesReviewing Nationwide Bonds; Minimum Bond Amounts; Operators' Unresponsiveness; Conclusion; Recommendations for Executive Action; Agency Comments and Our Evaluation; Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology; Appendix II: Comments from the Department of the Interior; Chapter 2; Oil and Gas Lease Management: BLM Could Improve Oversight of Lease Suspensions with Better Data and Monitoring Procedures(; Abbreviations; Why GAO Did This Study; What GAO Recommends
  • What GAO FoundBackground; Oil and Gas Leasing and Development on Federally Managed Lands; Lease Revenues; Lease Suspensions; BLM's LR2000 Database and Other Interior Databases; BLM Uses a Multistep Process in Determining Whether to Suspend Leases; A Small Portion of BLM's Oil and Gas Leases Were Recorded as Suspended, but Reasons for Suspensions Were Difficult to Determine; As of September 2016, about 2,750 Oil and Gas Leases Were Recorded as Suspended and Varied in Their Location and Length of Suspension
  • Reasons for Suspensions Were Not Always Recorded in BLM's Database and Required Reviews of Official Lease Files to IdentifyBLM Relies on an Informal Monitoring Approach That May Not Provide for Consistent and Effective Oversight of Lease Suspensions; Monitoring Varies Among Field Offices, and BLM Does Not Have Procedures for How to Conduct It; BLM State Offices and Headquarters Generally Do Not Oversee Field Office Monitoring of Lease Suspensions and Do Not Always Have Current or Complete Information on Suspensions; Conclusion; Recommendations for Executive Action; Agency Comments