Markey: Bush Admin Should Force All Oil Co's to Renegotiate Drilling Royalties, Not Just Small Fractions
MARKEY: BUSH ADMIN SHOULD FORCE ALL OIL CO'S TO RENEGOTIATE DRILLING ROYALTIES, NOT JUST SMALL FRACTION
Rep. Edward J. Markey, a senior member of the House Resources and Energy and Commerce Committees, released the following statement in reaction to comments made by a Bush Department of Interior official, Mineral and Management Services Director Johnnie Burton on a handful of oil companies voluntarily coming forward to renegotiate their royalties on deepwater oil and gas production:
"The Bush Administration refuses to mandate that oil companies stop fleecing the American people by drilling for free on public land," Markey said.
According to the Department of Interior, 56 companies hold 576 leases purchased in 1998 and 1999 that remain active and do not suspend royalty relief when the price of oil is high. The Government Accountability Office has estimated that the lost revenue from these leases could cost the federal government $10 billion.
"The oil-soaked Bush Administration is patting itself on the back for getting a fraction of the companies still holding active leases to voluntarily talk about paying their fair share, when it should be forcing all of these big oil companies back to the negotiating table," Markey continued.
"This Administration thinks it is enough for 25 percent of the industry to agree to do the right thing; but the public interest demands that 100 percent of the industry disgorge these royalty windfalls if they want the privilege of producing oil and gas on leases belonging to the public. Anything less is just another Bush Administration gift to Big Oil," Markey concluded.
The Markey amendment to the Department of Interior appropriations bill would provide a strong incentive for all of these oil companies to renegotiate their royalty-free leases at a time when American consumers are paying very high gas and energy prices. The amendment offered by Reps. Markey and Hinchey to the Department of Interior appropriations bill would prevent oil companies holding leases that do not include a price threshold above which royalty relief is suspended from purchasing new leases from the federal government.
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