The Bureau of Land Management has not properly tracked royalties from helium extracted from natural-gas-drilling operations on federal lands, according to an Interior Department inspector general’s report that criticized a pattern of lax oversight stretching back decades.
The inspector general’s investigation found “BLM did not identify or track all helium-producing wells with owners that are subject to royalty collection.” Nor did it seek to collect royalties “from potentially delinquent companies” when it did, according to the report.
That was the case because BLM had no formal royalty payment tracking process between the fiscal 2014 and 2024 budget cycles, the report says.
Helium is produced as a byproduct of natural gas drilling. Once crude helium is refined, its unique properties as a nonreactive gas and supercooling liquid make it invaluable for MRI machines and rocket fuel.
