ABSTRACT
Acting under their general police powers, the several producing states assume primary responsibility for petroleum conservation regulation in the United States. The federal government contributes chiefly by supporting the states’ regulatory efforts. It sanctions limited cooperation of the producing states under the Interstate Compact to Conserve Oil and Gas; 1 assists the regulatory agencies that impose statewide production restrictions by publishing monthly forecasts of oil demand in each state; helps enforce state production restrictions by outlawing interstate shipment of oil produced in violation of state regulations; 2 and, as a matter of policy where applicable, subjects operations on federal lands to the production restrictions of the states in which these lands lie. 3 Through lease provisions and supervision, the federal government directly regulates petroleum drilling and operating practices on federal lands, but it does so in active cooperation with the affected state conservation agencies. 4
