"The oil and gas industry is holding thousands of unused drilling permits on federal lands even as Interior Department field office employees say permitting wells has crowded out other responsibilities, according to a government watchdog.

The Government Accountability Office report, prompted by the request of House Natural Resources Chairman Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), found that between 2014 and 2019, the Bureau of Land Management received about a quarter of a million applications from the oil and gas industry to drill wells. At the close of last year, nearly 10,000 that were granted to companies were still not being used.

An approved drilling permit application is good for two years or until the related federal lease expires, whichever happens first. It costs operators a little more than $10,000 per application."

Heather Richards reports for Greenwire April 22, 2020. [2]