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Land Office defers decision on Other Agency Mineral program after staff flags poor data
Summary
Staff presented an evaluation of the Other Agency Mineral (OAM) program and said data quality prevents a reliable profitability determination. Commissioners directed staff to improve tracking and enforcement and tabled any change for one year.
Assistant Secretary John Fischer reviewed the internal evaluation of the Other Agency Mineral (OAM) program, which manages mineral interests for 15 entities under six contracts. Fischer said the CLO charges a 6% fee for the service and that prior estimates of program profitability relied on limited or estimated time accounting.
Because the data quality was insufficient to determine whether the program's revenues consistently offset its costs, staff — including an OU MBA student who modeled cost-based pricing options — recommended enhanced data tracking and enforcement of contract terms before altering the program. Fischer recommended no immediate action and asked the Commission to revisit the program in one year. The Commission elected to take no action at this time and directed staff to improve record-keeping and contract enforcement.
