Summary: The Government needs to lease its resources in a manner which encourages exploration and development of the most prospective lands. A 5-year leasing schedule would allow the industry, affected States, and other groups a chance to express their views as to where leasing should occur and over what timeframe. However, the implementation of a schedule for onshore oil and gas leasing may be difficult at best for various reasons, including the vast amount of leases and acreage already under lease with varying expiration dates, the absence of geophysical and geological data, and scattered ownership patterns. Expanding the use of competitive leasing could help discourage speculation and help assure fair market value return to the Government for the resources given over. However, it may be more appropriate, at least in the near term, to make improvements in the noncompetitive system to discourage speculation and encourage development. Moving toward the type of leasing system envisioned by the proposed legislation would require the Department of the Interior to: (1) put a freeze on a good portion of any future leasing until such time as enough lands could be gathered together to develop an appropriate lease schedule; (2) begin gathering data already available from industry on existing leases; (3) acquire available data from industry on areas with the best potential not under lease; and (4) where data are not available, begin obtaining such data through a systematic exploration and development program which for some areas may require exploratory drilling.
