The Nation : Oil Drilling Rates on Federal Land Cut

Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel, in his last full day on the job, lowered the rates oil companies pay for drilling on federal land and recommended opening the vast Alaska wildlife refuge to oil exploration, the New York Times reported. The moves are aimed at boosting the nation’s sagging oil production, spokesmen for the Interior Department said. Hodel’s decision to cut the rental fees for drilling on federal land by up to two-thirds could cost taxpayers an estimated $35 million annually, the paper said. Rental rates that now range from $2 to $3 will be lowered to $1 per acre when the action takes effect March 1. Hodel also recommended that Congress allow native Alaska corporations to trade ownership of land they hold for mineral rights to thousands of acres in the federal Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.