"Interior Dept. Considers Cutting Royalty Rate For Deepwater Projects"

"WASHINGTON - A proposal to cut the federal government's take from deepwater oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico is making its way towards Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's desk.

Under a recommendation before the Interior Department's Royalty Policy Committee, the royalty rate collected by the federal government for fields deeper than 200 feet would decrease from 18.75 percent to 12.5 percent in order to attract interest in areas that "are maturing basins with only the most challenging prospects remaining."

"The western and central Gulf of Mexico have been leased... for decades," the recommendation reads. "There are substantial additional resource volumes still accessible and producible under the right leasing, fiscal and regulatory terms.""

James Osborne reports for the Houston Chronicle February 26, 2018.