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Re:Saudi Aramco Is World’s Most Profitable Company, Far Exce... by exothermic on Monday April 01, 2019 @01:43PM (#19545934)
Land acquisition costs are very low in the US (this is done through a competitive bidding process when new tracts are offered).

Royalties to the government are in the 20-30% range on a revenue basis, plus standard CIT.

This is for new land for exploration- e.g. no proven reserves at the time of the sale. If there are known reserves, then the price would be much higher but the government is not typically in the business of proving reserves themselves.

Re:Saudi Aramco Is World’s Most Profitable Company, Far Exce... by zaroth on Monday April 01, 2019 @02:39PM (#19546607)
I seem to recall reading government reports about proven reserves. I thought we had a geological department that investigated all sorts of mineral / oil / natural gas resources.
Re:Saudi Aramco Is World’s Most Profitable Company, Far Exce... by planteen on Monday April 01, 2019 @02:48PM (#19546715)
Yes, there are tons of geologic maps produced by the government that are used by oil & gas companies. Most states require data from well logs to be reported too.

I think what parent is possibly talking about is when the BLM puts up tracts for mineral lease auction that nobody wants (no economically recoverable reserves). https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060099219

Re:Saudi Aramco Is World’s Most Profitable Company, Far Exce... by mtnGoat on Monday April 01, 2019 @07:38PM (#19549507)
coal is at 12%(on BLM land), depending on who you lease from, Gold can be under 1%. What is as high as 20-30?
Re:Saudi Aramco Is World’s Most Profitable Company, Far Exce... by exothermic on Monday April 15, 2019 @02:31PM (#19667610)
You are right- I am thinking of the typical royalties paid to private land owners onshore (either 1/8th or 1/4th).

Offshore federal royalties are typically ~12.5-18.5% [1]

[1] https://www.boem.gov/note07062017/