US Government can save $1 Billion annually in Natural Gas Energy costs by taking gas IN KIND instead of purchasing from producers who have just taken the same gas from US minerals, intercontinental shelf, and other properties. THe U.S. owns the minerals, under 650 million acres of land base, and 247 million acres of the intercontinental shelf,.
The Federal Government, including the Department of Defense, is a major energy user of natural gas on military bases, in office buildings, post offices, housing projects, etc. The Federal government is also a huge oil and gas producer from its mineral rights in western state lands, the continental shelf, Alaska and a half dozen military bases. If the USG would take its gas in kind, the utility bill could be cut by $100 million annually.
In 1981, Vance AFB Enid Oklahoma had 8 natural gas wells producing 750,000 cubic feet of gas a day. The Department of Interior received cash royalties of $3800 per month on these wells, while Vance was paying $18,000 per month for gas from the local utility (probably the same gas just taken from under Vance AFB). The Air Force was buying gas at $4 while Interior was receiving royalties from selling to the producers at fifty cents. The gas producer would have been happy to provide the same gas to Vance instead of the gas pipeline company.
After I suggested Vance receive in kind gas away from the Utility (ONG), the price of gas at Vance was cut in half. About 1989, the DOD centralized gas purchases in order to cut its nationwide costs by half again, saving about $100 million a year, if fully used. Good. But, another $100 million a year net can be saved with taking Royalties in Kind. As of 1981, Interior stated that taking Royalties in Kind had never been done, although it was provided for in every mineral lease since Teapot Dome. In the nearly 40 years since this was proposed, the Military could have saved $4 billion, and counting. I assume nothing has changed in 40 years.
google aI says - the Federal government uses a significant portion of natural gas produced on federal lands, with estimates showing that around 9% of total natural gas produced in the US comes from federal lands, but the exact amount used by the government itself is not readily available as it’s dispersed across various agencies and facilities; however, the majority of this natural gas is sold rather than directly consumed by the government itself.
According to the BUreau of Land Management website November 19 2024, Oil and gas produced from the Federal mineral estate are significant parts of the nation’s energy mix. For fiscal year (FY) 2022, sales of oil, gas, and natural gas liquids produced from the Federal mineral estate accounted for approximately 11 percent of all oil and 9 percent of all natural gas produced in the United States.
But not every acre of that land is being developed for energy. About 23 million Federal acres were under lease to oil and gas developers at the end of FY 2022. Of that, about 12.4 million acres are producing oil and gas in economic quantities. This activity came from over 89,000 wells on over 23,500 producing oil and gas leases.
All Federal oil and gas royalty, rental fee, and bonus bid revenue is split about half between the U.S. Treasury and the states where development occurred.
According to the US Energy Infomation Administration The total real energy cost for the US federal government to operate its facilities, vehicles, and equipment in fiscal year (FY) 2016 fell to $*16.1 billion. The table indicates Natural gas is 100 trillion BRitish Themal Units, evenly split between the civilian federal properties and the military. If the Federal Government would take its GAS IN KIND (i.e. use it raw, and not receive a royalty), it could run the entire 100 trillion BTUs from government owned and produced gas, and save 13/16ths of the net cost (i.e. the gas produced pays a royalty of 3/16ths to the BLM, and then the agencies buy back the gas at the full price 13/16ths.) The savings is about $1 billion a year, forever.
Bases with gas - Fort Knox Kentucky (reportedly extracts and uses its own gas generated on site. the specific motivation for Fort Knox was a devastating 2009 ice storm that left parts of the base without power for a full week. The same storm served as a wake-up call for the rest of the Army.), Vance Air Force Base Oklahoma. Hill Air Force Base Ogden Utah. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana (2022 natural gas gathering line pipeline explosion on the East Reservation); China Lake NAVY (geothermal), Joint Base ELmendorf Richardson Alaska; Yuma Proving Ground Arizona , All California bases located near continental shelf. Texas and Florida bases with access to the Gulf Continental Shelf, Mississippi, Alabama, Malmstrom AFB Montana, the rest of the 200 military bases. The General Services Administration (GSA) owns and leases over 363 million square feet of space in federal buildings across the United States. These buildings include offices, hospitals, warehouses, and other facilities. 306,000 Buildings owned by the government, plus 55,000 leased. All could use the gas from the continental shelf and western lands. Save the money.