Summary

A significant portion of domestically produced oil and natural gas comes from Federal and Indian lands leased to the private sector. During 1977, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected about $1.2 billion in royalties on these lands from the oil and gas industry. Extensive congressional interest in government debt collection procedures prompted a review of the system and related controls used by the agency in collecting these royalties.

Serious deficiencies in the way USGS maintained records of amounts due the government under the leases resulted in losses of millions of dollars. Statements of lease accounts contained numerous errors and omissions. Failure to perform an adequate number of lease account reconciliations and audits meant that the agency had to rely on unverified data from the oil and gas industry to compute and collect royalties due. Lack of interest charge provisions resulted in delayed receipt of payments. Understaffing was a chronic condition. Many factors beyond the control of the agency contributed to the breakdown in the collection system.