Is The U.S. Government About To Make Oil Drilling More Expensive?

The Department of the Interior has proposed higher royalty rates and other fees for oil and gas drillers on federal lands as well as limits on the land where they are allowed to drill, after a review of current procedures. After it said the current mechanism "falls short of serving the public interest," the Interior Department proposed that the minimum royalty rate of 12.5 percent—which, according to Reuters, has not been changed in over 100 years—is hiked along with other fees drillers have to pay the government. In addition to higher…