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Accountable.US’s new analysis of which companies actually drill federal lands shows the biggest oil companies in the world at the top of the list

WASHINGTON, DC — In a new report from non-partisan government watchdog Accountable.US first reported in E&E today the biggest drillers of United States public lands are revealed for the first time. The report shows big, multinational oil corporations– some of the most profitable in the world–  benefiting the most from a broken public lands leasing system.

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Big Oil companies have spent big to buy politicians who will protect the broken system of federal oil and gas leasing that has made them huge profits,” said Chris Marshall, research manager at Accountable.US.

“This report proves that the actions the Biden administration is taking to conserve public lands and reform the leasing system are long overdue. American taxpayers simply can’t afford any more exploitation by companies that can easily afford to pay their fair share,” Marshall continued.

The report details how the top five publicly-traded public lands leaseholders control hundreds of thousands of acres of public lands in the United States. The same five companies made over $100 billion in profits in 2022 through corporate greed and price gouging. 

It goes on to show that each of the top five publicly-traded public lands lease holders has a record of intentionally cheating on royalties– the portion of the value of publicly-owned minerals that companies are legally required to return to the public.

Download the full analysis at this link. 

The Biden administration recently announced new measures to address these and other abuses. 

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