PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-344.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · May 12, 2015
Deficit Reduction Through Fair Oil Royalties Act
This bill prohibits the Department of the Interior from issuing new oil or natural gas production leases in the Gulf of Mexico under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act unless they have been renegotiated to require royalty payments if the price of oil and natural gas is greater than or equal to specified price thresholds.
Rentals or royalties received by the United States under covered leases must be deposited in the Treasury and used for federal budget deficit reduction or, if there is no federal budget deficit, federal debt reduction.
Interior must agree to a lessee's request to amend a lease to incorporate price thresholds applicable to royalty suspension requirements that are equal to or less than certain statutory price thresholds if the lease was issued for any Central and Western Gulf of Mexico tract on or after January 1, 1996, through November 28, 2000.
People & committees
Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] · D–MA
Legislative record
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Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-344.
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
Introduced in Senate
Primary sources
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Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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