A royalty relief measure in the 2005 energy bill is worth millions — not billions.
According to an analysis of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 by the Congressional Budget Office, the waivers for royalty payments on deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and several other provisions in the bill would cost an estimated $203 million over five years.
Even that figure is high, since the budget office did not provide a breakdown of the oil and gas provisions included in the bill.
Still, that's far, far below the $7 billion figure from a New York Times editorial quoted in a recent TV ad attacking U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole.
As noted previously, that article was referring to an earlier royalty relief bill that actually predated Dole's time in the Senate, so the $7 billion figure is wildly inaccurate.
After the jump, the math.
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The CBO Report
The Congressional Budget Office analyzed the fiscal impact of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 in this report for Congress.
The royalty relief measures are on page three under Title III: Oil and Gas, Other Provisions.
Since the relief measures expired after five years, add the estimates for 2005 to 2010 to get $203 million for the total cost during those years.
That subsection includes other measures from the bill, and it is not broken down further, so the actual amount is probably below $203 million.
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