Alliance President to Testify on Emergency Royalty Relief

​DENVER – Western Energy Alliance’s president, Kathleen Sgamma, will testify at a hearing titled Interior’s Royalty Cuts: Thoughtful Policy or Industry Giveaway?  before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources. Sgamma will explain how the temporary royalty relief granted in response to the global pandemic by Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is a small reduction that helps ensure royalty revenue generation far into the future. The virtual hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, October 6th, at 2:00 p.m. ET, and will be available to view on the committee’s website.

“Those in Congress who support efforts to ban leasing and development of oil and natural gas on federal lands, which would ensure no future royalty revenue at all, are worried about temporary, emergency royalty relief,” said Sgamma. “When over a trillion dollars of COVID relief was directly given to companies across all sectors of the economy in response to the global pandemic, why would Congress begrudge one industry a relatively tiny amount of temporary tax reduction? The targeted, temporary relief granted by the Interior Secretary, using the power given him by Congress, enabled some producers to ensure the solvency of their leases over a few months so that they can generate royalties years into the future. That relief, like CARES Act direct assistance, was a response to the unprecedented COVID pandemic lockdowns and ensuing economic collapse, not a nefarious ‘giveaway’. Rather, Congress should recognize the contribution of the oil and natural gas industry responding to and providing solutions for this health crisis, rather than singling it out for exclusion.”
 
Sgamma’s full testimony is available on the Alliance’s website.
 
What:   House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources
Hearing on Interior’s Royalty Cuts: Thoughtful Policy or Industry Giveaway?
 
Who:     Kathleen Sgamma, president of Western Energy Alliance 
 
When:  Tuesday, October 6, 2020, 2:00 p.m. ET
 
Where: Online on YouTube and the Committee webpage.