Oil and Gas Management: Past Work Offers Insights to Consider in Restructuring Interior's Oversight

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has drawn attention to the exploration and production of oil and gas from leases on federal lands and waters. The Department of the Interior oversees oil and gas activities on federal lands and waters. Onshore, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has oversight responsibilities. Offshore, the newly created Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement (BOEMRE), has oversight responsibilities. Prior to BOEMRE, the Minerals Management Service's (MMS) Offshore Energy and Minerals Management oversaw offshore oil and gas activities, while MMS's Minerals Revenue Management collected revenues from oil and gas produced. For the purposes of our testimony today, we present our findings in accordance with Interior's organizational structure prior to establishing BOEMRE. Over the past 5 years, GAO has issued numerous recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior to improve the agency's management of oil and gas resources--most recently in two reports issued in March 2010. Overall, GAO's work in this area can be useful in evaluating potential strategies for reorganizing and improving oil and gas management at Interior. Specifically, GAO's work can assist the Secretary and Congress as they are considering restructuring Interior's oversight of oil and gas development and production, revenue collection, and information technology (IT) systems.