Oil Firms Billed Again in Royalty Dispute

The Interior Department issued a second round of bills to 18 major oil companies in an attempt to collect unpaid royalties for oil produced on federal land. The government sent bills on Dec. 20 totaling $273 million to the companies, which are responsible for almost all the oil production in California. In October, bills totaling $107 million went out. Interior Department officials couldn’t immediately be reached to comment. Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who has been pushing the plan to collect, says California has already collected $320 million from six companies. The Interior Department’s bills cover oil produced in California before 1980 and involves the way the oil was valued. Companies, the government says, often paid royalties that valued the oil below what it was actually worth. The department’s Minerals Management Service is working on new rules to be released later this month to ensure that companies don’t undervalue oil.