To amend the Mineral Leasing Act to provide for commingling.
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Hunt introduced the following bill; which was referred to …
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill changes federal rules for oil and gas production on public lands by requiring the Secretary of the Interior to approve requests that allow companies to combine (commingle) oil and gas from multiple sources before measuring it for royalty payments. Currently, approval is optional; this bill makes it mandatory as long as measurement accuracy stays within 2%.
Who Benefits and How
Oil and gas companies operating on federal lands benefit significantly. They can reduce infrastructure costs by combining production from multiple wells, leases, or properties into shared pipelines and measurement facilities instead of building separate equipment for each source. The mandatory approval requirement also removes regulatory uncertainty - companies will know their commingling applications must be approved if they meet the 2% accuracy standard.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The Department of the Interior and Bureau of Land Management face increased workload since they must now approve all qualifying applications rather than exercising discretion. Federal taxpayers bear some risk because combining production from sources with different royalty rates before measurement could lead to royalty collection errors, potentially reducing federal revenue if the 2% measurement tolerance allows some inaccuracies.
Key Provisions
- Mandates Interior Department approval of commingling applications (changes "may approve" to "shall approve")
- Allows mixing of production from federal leases, state lands, private properties, and tribal lands before royalty measurement
- Requires measurement accuracy within plus or minus 2% on a monthly basis
- Applicants must install individual measurement devices or use approved allocation methods
- Stated purpose is to minimize surface-disturbing activities on federal lands
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Amends the Mineral Leasing Act to require the Secretary of the Interior to approve applications for commingling oil and gas production from multiple sources before royalty measurement.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Streamline oil and gas production operations on federal lands by allowing producers to combine production streams from multiple sources before royalty measurement, reducing surface infrastructure and operational complexity."
Likely Beneficiaries
- Oil & gas companies operating on federal lands
- Oil & gas lease holders with multiple adjacent leases
- Companies with mixed federal/non-federal production operations
Likely Burden Bearers
- Department of the Interior - must approve all commingling applications (mandatory 'shall approve')
- Federal taxpayers - potential revenue risk if commingling leads to measurement errors beyond the 2% threshold
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of the Interior
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
The combination of production from two or more sources (including oil and gas leases, unit participating areas, communitized areas, or non-Federal or non-Indian properties) before production reaches the point of royalty measurement, regardless of ownership, royalty rates, or the number or percentage of acres for each source.
Applicants must either install measurement devices for each source or utilize an allocation meter or method that achieves volume measurement uncertainty levels within plus or minus 2 percent during the production phase reported on a monthly basis.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology