The US Department of the Interior’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) disbursed $11.69 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 from energy production on federal and American Indian-owned lands and offshore areas. This represents a $2.76-billion increase in comparison to FY 2018, and is nearly double the disbursements allocated at the end of the previous Administration at $6.23 billion for FY 2016.

States received $2.44 billion in disbursements, and more than $1 billion was disbursed to American Indian Tribes and individual Indian mineral owners. In addition, $1.76 billion went to the Reclamation Fund; $1.0 billion to the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF); $150 million to the Historic Preservation Fund; and the remaining $5.35 billion to the US Treasury.

Total revenues collected last year increased by 31% to approximately $12 billion, continuing an upward trend. Often the second-highest generator of federal income following taxes, energy revenue disbursements are a critical source of funding to states, American Indian Tribes and individual Indian mineral owners, as well as to the Land and Water Conservation Fund, Reclamation Fund, Historic Preservation Fund and the US Treasury.

ONRR disbursed more than $2.44 billion of the FY 2019 energy revenues to 35 states as their cumulative share of revenues collected from oil, gas and mineral production on federal lands within their borders and from offshore oil and gas tracts in federal waters adjacent to their shores. The increase in disbursements is primarily attributed to higher production volumes in both oil and natural gas, which more than offset the marginal price decrease, creating an overall increase in ONRR disbursements.

New Mexico received the highest disbursement in FY 2019, and it is the greatest allocation received in the state’s history at $1.17 billion. The top states receiving FY 2019 revenues were:

• New Mexico $1.17 billion
• Wyoming $641.11 million
• Colorado $108.05 million
• Louisiana $101.33 million
• North Dakota $93.65 million
• Utah $71.69 million
• Texas $65.12 million
• California $47.27 million
• Alabama $34.04 million
• Mississippi $33.18 million
• Montana $29.99 million
• Alaska $25.91 million

The more than $1 billion disbursed to American Indian Tribes and individual Indian mineral owners is more than double the disbursements paid in FY 2016. The revenues disbursed to the 33 federally recognized American Indian tribes and approximately 37,000 individual Indian mineral owners represent 100% of the revenues received from energy and mineral production activities on Indian lands. Tribes use these revenues to develop infrastructure, provide healthcare and education, and support other critical community development programs, such as senior centers, public safety projects, and youth initiatives.