Washington, D.C. (April 17, 2015) - Today the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages over 245 million surface acres and 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout 12 Western states, took the first step to raise royalty rates on already restricted oil and gas production on federal lands.

Western Caucus Chairman Cynthia Lummis (WY-At large) and Chairman-emeritus Steve Pearce (NM-02) issued the following statements in response:

"The Obama Administration has made no secret of its desire to raise taxes on job creating energy production," said Chairman Lummis. "We should all be concerned with securing a better return for taxpayers, but to that end the BLM should be looking within. Despite an 89 percent increase in oil and gas production on state and private lands since 2010, production on federal lands continues to fall because of this Administration's hostility towards energy production. You can't discuss oil and gas royalties intelligently unless you recognize the other costs, regulations, and uncertainty of producing on federal lands. Maximizing royalties is about balance and efficiency. But this is impossible to achieve when the Obama Administration's entire energy policy is out of whack and out of touch with the needs of the American people."

"Today's announcement is another step by this Administration to derail energy production and exploration on federal lands," said Chairman-emeritus Pearce. "Already faced with expensive and lengthy permitting processes on federal lands, this added burden will almost certainly drive production of oil and gas off federal lands. Low prices are already threatening layoffs in the oil industry nationwide, this added hit will cost jobs and businesses leading to lower royalty payments and less energy security. If the Administration wants to support their fiscally irresponsible spending with oil and gas royalty payments, they should increase opportunity for employment by opening more production areas, not kill jobs. I call on the Bureau of Land Management to scrap this dangerous rule immediately."