How Leasing Works
The Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) manages the revenue from leases of federal and Native American land.
Lease Creation
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) manages offshore leasing and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages onshore leasing. BOEM and BLM award leases through a competitive bidding process. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), in consultation with BLM, manages leases on Native American lands.
Lease Management
After the lease is created, ONRR collects and distributes funds, checks for compliance and shares information with the public.
Collecting & Disbursing Funds
Each month, companies report data to ONRR on the resources they produced. This includes the amount produced, the value of their production, and the amount of royalties they owe.
Oil and gas companies are required to submit two key monthly reports to ONRR. The first report is the Oil and Gas Operations Report (OGOR). It specifies the total production and disposition of oil and gas. The second report is the Report of Sales and Royalty Remittance (Form ONRR-2014). It specifies royalties due based on sales or use of the production.
Solid minerals companies are only required to submit one monthly report. The Production and Royalty (P&R) Report (Form ONRR-4430).
Geothermal companies report revenue on the Report of Sales and Royalty Remittance (Form ONRR-2014).
Achieving Compliance
Our primary tools to verify and ensure compliance from companies are data mining reviews, compliance reviews, and audits. In all these activities, we review all components of the royalty reports in whole or in part. These include volume, value, allowances, and royalty rate.
Our enforcement team evaluates the enforceability of compliance violations. We also have litigation support and appeals teams to assist with compliance.
Reporting & Sharing Information
The production, revenue and disbursement data collected from reporters and operators on Indian and Federal land is compiled and published on ONRR's Natural Resources Revenue Data website. We are also dedicated to sharing our data both internally and externally.