The location of the exact mining for oil remains a top government secret in the U.S. But how does the government keep it a secret? Rumors has it that once oil deposits are found on your land and you report it, the government will then buy the land and you have to swear to keep the location a secret. The reason why the locations are kept a secret is to prevent the rich individuals from purchasing the lands to build their own wells and make big chunks of money from the oil. Thus, the information regarding the location of oil deposits is kept top secret by the U.S government.
Oil production on U.S. public lands is up 60 percent over the last decade.
Natural gas production is near all time highs in the United States, increasing dramatically over the last decade.
90 percent of U.S. public lands managed by the BLM are open to oil and gas leasing and development. Only 10 percent are protected for recreation, conservation, and wildlife.
Between 2009 and 2016, oil and gas companies passed on over 23 million acres of oil and gas leases offered for sale by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)—that’s more land than all of Maine.
At the end of fiscal year 2016, oil and gas companies were sitting on nearly 8,000 approved, but unused drilling permits. That’s a record high. At the same time, companies are sitting on over 14 million acres of unused public lands leases.
In fiscal year 2016, BLM approved 2,200 new drilling permits, but oil and gas companies used only 850. That means companies received 2.5 times more drilling permits than they needed.
In 2016, oil and gas companies bid on less than half of land offered by BLM at auction—the U.S. government auctioned nearly 2 million acres for oil and gas drilling but companies bid on less than 1 million acres.
In 2015 and 2016, BLM postponed multiple lease sales because industry officials failed to nominate any parcels for leasing.
