Big Oil stiffs US billions in royalties
Almost every time a company drills for oil or gas on federal property, it's supposed to pay a royalty or tax to the government , CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian reports. But CBS News has learned from a Congressional source that the federal agency responsible for collecting billions of dollars in those royalties has routinely failed to hold the companies accountable.
According to the source, the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service (MMS) audits only about 20 percent of the companies.
The rest of the time, the payments are made on the honor system. But the government agency "could not accurately count" its own oil and gas audits — and as a result, it has reported audits that never occurred.
"The Department of the Interior doesn't see itself as a watchdog. It sees itself as a lapdog for the oil and gas industry," says Rep. Edward Markey, D.-Mass.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/12/04/cbsnews_investigates/main2227182.shtml?CMP=ILC-SearchStories
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