| Report says oil royalties go unpaid | | Posted Saturday, December 09, 2006 1:08:28 PM by Blog57 Team | | An eight-month investigation by the Interior Department's chief watchdog has found pervasive problems in the government's program for ensuring companies pay the royalties they owe on billions of dollars oil and gas pumped on federal land and in coastal waters, The New York Times reported Thursday. In a scathing report to Congress, the Interior Department's inspector general says the agency's data are often inaccurate, that its officials rely too heavily on statements by oil companies rather than actual records and that only about 9 percent of all oil and gas leases are being reviewed. The report undermines claims by top Interior officials that the department is aggressively pursuing underpayments and outright cheating by companies that drill on property owned by the American public, according to the newspaper.... | |
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| | | Qualcomm and Nokia Battle Over $500m a Year Royalties | | Posted Monday, November 06, 2006 11:20:40 PM by Blog57 Team | | Nokia Corp may pay over $500m a year in royalties to Qualcomm Inc, according to figures released as part of Qualcomm's fourth-quarter and full-year financial results. The two companies are involved in a bitter dispute about renewing their current patent agreement that expires on April 9, 2007. Qualcomm has been forced to revealed a risk of between $0.04 and $0.06, to net earnings per share, if Nokia refuses to pay royalties in Qualcomm's fourth quarter 2007, which runs to September 30. Because licensees pay one quarter in arrears, this would cover shipments of Nokia products, largely mobile handsets, in the quarter to June 30. Qualcomm's earnings per share estimates point to a total figure of between $67m and $100m for the quarter, suggesting the company relies on a $400m annual contribution to its bottom line from Nokia, the world's largest handset manufacturer.... | |
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| | | Pombo counterattacks criticism over oil royalties | | Posted Tuesday, September 26, 2006 11:09:23 AM by Blog57 Team | | House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo fired back at House Democratic critics Friday, saying complaints that he hasn't acted to ensure collection of oil royalties are "naked partisanship" and "election-year showmanship." The New York Times reported Thursday that four government auditors who monitor leases for oil and gas on federal property have sued, claiming the Interior Department quashed their efforts to recover money due the public. This news came atop lawmakers' previous concerns over royalty-free contracts and oil companies' short payments. Seven House Democrats including Resources Committee member George Miller, D-Martinez, wrote to Pombo, R-Tracy, on Thursday complaining he'd ignored calls for oversight hearings on royalty-free leases. Pombo wrote back to the seven Democrats on Friday, citing a Feb.... | |
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| | | Review oil royalties - Hancock | | Posted Sunday, August 13, 2006 1:21:53 PM by Blog57 Team | | CALGARY -- Provincial Tory leadership hopeful Dave Hancock suspects Albertans aren't getting a fair return on the province's petroleum royalties. Hancock said he wants a public review of the royalty structure but already suspects the province isn't likely receiving a fair share of revenues from oilsands projects. A law giving the province 1% of oilsands developers' gross revenues until their capital investment is paid off is likely obsolete, given crude prices are hovering around $75 a barrel, Hancock said yesterday. "The risk equation has changed ... it makes sense that perhaps the royalty structure should change," he said. A 30-year-old set of surface rights for oil and gas producers should also be re-examined, said the former advanced education minister. .... | |
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| | | Louisiana must hold firm on its demand for more oil royalties | | Posted Tuesday, August 08, 2006 11:06:14 AM by Blog57 Team | | For years, Louisiana has been routinely shortchanged in the exploitation of its natural resources, receiving less than 1 percent royalties on revenues from offshore oil despite providing a third of the oil and gas produced domestically. Now that the state badly needs cash to rebuild the communities along its battered coast, it faces roadblocks on two important fronts: the progress of a revenue-sharing bill winding its way through Congress, and a misfire by the U.S. Mineral Management Service, which has prompted a lawsuit claiming the agency has grossly under-assessed the environmental impact of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. .... | |
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| | | Kerr-McGee, DOI Mediating Royalties Suit | | Posted Tuesday, July 04, 2006 5:14:28 PM by Blog57 Team | | — OKLAHOMA CITY _ Kerr-McGee Corp., an oil and gas explorer and producer, on Friday said it has an agreement with the Department of the Interior to find a mediator to resolve a disagreement over natural gas and oil royalties under the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act of 1995. Earlier this year, Kerr-McGee challenged an Interior Department order for it to comply with the Act and pay $108 million in royalties from leases issued between 1996 and 2000. .... | |
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| | | Ghana: Wassa Chiefs Angry Over Payment of Royalties | | Posted Friday, June 30, 2006 7:06:30 AM by Blog57 Team | | Some chiefs in the Wassa Amenfi traditional area have threatened to stop timber and mining companies operating in the area unless they were paid all accumulated royalties owed them within a week. They appealed to the President to intervene on their behalf to ensure prompt payment of all accumulated royalties to them. They said the decision to ban these companies from entering the concessions was as a result of the failure by the Forest Service Division (FSD) to pay them the royalties as stipulated by law. Nana Ntori Bonkyi Akomea I, Chief of Wassa Amuni and spokesman at a press conference at Wassa-Akropong on Saturday said several appeals for the release of their share of the royalties fell on deaf ears. He was flanked by some of his colleagues, elders and youth clad in red attire to signify the seriousness of the situation.... | |
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