FOR RELEASE:  July 6, 1994               CONTACT:   Tom DeRocco
                                                 (202) 208-3983

             COMPREHENSIVE AUDIT EFFORT NETS $1 BILLION (#40047)

     The Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS)
today announced that it has now collected more than $1 billion in
royalties through its comprehensive audit program.

     "To collect that amount of money over the past 12 years is a
notable achievement," said MMS Director Tom Fry.  "Through our
Royalty Management Program, our comprehensive audit effort found
royalties that might otherwise have gone unpaid."

     MMS Deputy Associate Director Jimmy Mayberry praised the audit
staff.  "We have a magnificent crew of auditors. Our audit teams,
and that certainly includes the state and tribal auditors who work
cooperatively with us, deserve credit for this milestone," said
Mayberry. "These people are very talented, hard-working
professionals."

     Fry explained that a large portion of these collections
resulted from the clarification of value resulting from the first
round of audits on federal and Indian mineral production which
began in 1982.

     With more than 80,000 federal and Indian leases, worth $4
billion in bonuses, rents and royalties last year, the MMS Royalty
Management Program (RMP) is responsible for assuring the timely and
accurate collection and verification of revenues associated with
the Nation's mineral resources.

     "We've collected more than $65 billion in royalties over the
past dozen years," declared Fry.  "To be successful we rely on both
voluntary compliance by payors and sophisticated and dynamic RMP
audit and review processes designed to detect underpayments.

     "We are dedicated to working with the industry to improve the
accuracy of initial payments, thereby reducing reliance on
compliance activities," concluded Fry.  "That's our program
strategy." 

                               -MMS-
Subject: PR/07/06/94 RMP/Comprehensive Audit Effort Nets $1 Billion
(#40047)