U.S. Royalty Plan to Give Windfall to Oil Companies

[cal04]

The federal government is on the verge of one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history, worth an estimated $7 billion over five years. New projections, buried in the Interior Department's just-published budget plan, anticipate that the government will let companies pump about $65 billion worth of oil and natural gas from federal territory over the next five years without paying any royalties to the government.

Based on the administration figures, the government will give up more than $7 billion in payments between now and 2011. The companies are expected to get the largess, known as royalty relief, even though the administration assumes that oil prices will remain above $50 a barrel throughout that period. Administration officials say that the benefits are dictated by laws and regulations that date back to 1996, when energy prices were relatively low and Congress wanted to encourage more exploration and drilling in the high-cost, high-risk deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

"We need to remember the primary reason that incentives are given," said Johnnie M. Burton, director of the federal Minerals Management Service. "It's not to make more money, necessarily. It's to make more oil, more gas, because production of fuel for our nation is essential to our economy and essential to our people." But what seemed like modest incentives 10 years ago have ballooned to levels that have alarmed even ardent supporters of the oil and gas industry, partly because of added sweeteners approved during the Clinton administration but also because of ambiguities in the law that energy companies have successfully exploited in court.

Short of imposing new taxes on the industry, there may be little Congress can do to reverse its earlier giveaways. The new projections come at a moment when President Bush and Republican leaders are on the defensive about record-high energy prices, soaring profits at major oil companies and big cuts in domestic spending.

more
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/business/14oil.html?hp&ex=1139893200&en=7f705e667bdcf305&ei=5094&partner=homepage

[aquart]

1. Yeah, I heard they were hurting for cash.

[Atman]

2. ""It's not to make more money, necessarily."

Not necessarily, no, but sure.

Is there any more obvious a qualifier as "not necessarily?" OF COURSE it is to make money, and this assclown's answer makes it all the more obvious.

[pk_du]

3. I thought the headline refered to formalising the Bush Reign n/t

[ColonelTom]

4. Shocking! Film at 11! n/t

[rodeodance]

5. n

[PSPS]

6. What a racket!

Since the oil is on federal land, it belongs to the people. So bush gives it away to his cronies to sell back to us (with an understanding, of course, that a percentage of that windfall will be funneled back to The Bush Cabal as a "campaign contribution" to "appropriate" (Cabal) candidates.

It would be like my working in an ice cream store. I let my cronies come in and take all the ice cream for nothing (that's called stealing.) Then the cronies come back later and sell it back to the owner of the ice cream store, and I get a "cut of the take."

[WePurrsevere]

10. That's a very good analogy. This whole thing rings of yet another

"let them eat cake" moment.

BushCo even acknowledges it won't bring the price of oil down for Americans. The fact is that all this boils down to is Americans yet again giving the big already RICH corporations something for nothing and getting jack back except a continuation of increaded prices on everything since as prices on gas and heating fuel increase so do the prices on food, etc.

[Tace]

7. That Is One Wicked Headline For The NYT

Kudos to the headline writer!

[Roland99]

8. Nationalism is great as long as it's the sheep acting that way, otherwise,

Let the corporate whores rape this great land.

[Ilsa]

9. As my brother would say, "Bend over." eom

[The_Casual_Observer]

11. jr presides over the largest public giveaway to big oil in history

and it's all good with the rw.

[0007]

13. The oil people sure know how to take the breath out of America

..gasp, cough cough

[Synnical]

12. Kick to read later

Off to be now.

[NorthernSpy]

14. STOP THIEF!

We are being ROBBED!

The Bush regime have really got it in for this country, haven't they?

[salin]

15. These folks are making record profits... why are they getting tax payer

subsidies?

Our local taxes keep going up to offset cuts from the feds (in essence - federal forced tax hikes) so that the federal govt can keep using tax payer dollars as subsidies and slush funds to huge corporate donors?

[fasttense]

16. I say we fire all the congress-critters and just make those tax checks

out directly to the corporations. That way we get rid of the middle man.

[markam]

17. To be painfully fair to this administration

Which I hate to do, these leases were granted when oil was $10/barrel, and the government (Clintons) was trying to spur exploration. It would be unfair (and illegal) to now say that the oil companies can't use these leases which they were granted.

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. The final paragraph sums up the Bush presidency

If that view prevails, the government said it would lose a total of nearly $35 billion in royalties to taxpayers by 2011 — about the same amount that Mr. Bush is proposing to cut from Medicare, Medicaid and child support enforcement programs over the same period.

[kurth]

19. Exactly. Perfect description of an utterly corrupt administration

And the people who support this regime are deeply complicit in its corruption.

[Roland99]

20. Guess this goes hand-in-hand with the giving away of Nat'l Forest land

that was announced last week.

[sofedup]

21. Are there some widows' and orphans' programs...

...that could be slashed to balance this corporate giveaway? This maladministration is all about fiscal responsibilty, after all. :sarcasm:

[Triana]

22. Blaming Clinton for Oil Co. Greed...when most of bu$hco is from...

...and affiliated with OIL companies? HA!

"Theere's nothing we can dooooo"

I don't buy that, either. There's nothing they WANT to do.

Pathetic.

[sabra]

23. kick

:kick:

[Whoa_Nelly]

24. U.S. Has Royalty Plan to Give Windfall to Oil Companies

http://tinyurl.com/bd5j7

U.S. Has Royalty Plan to Give Windfall to Oil Companies

WASHINGTON, Feb. 13 — The federal government is on the verge of one of the biggest giveaways of oil and gas in American history, worth an estimated $7 billion over five years.

New projections, buried in the Interior Department's just-published budget plan, anticipate that the government will let companies pump about $65 billion worth of oil and natural gas from federal territory over the next five years without paying any royalties to the government.

Based on the administration figures, the government will give up more than $7 billion in payments between now and 2011. The companies are expected to get the largess, known as royalty relief, even though the administration assumes that oil prices will remain above $50 a barrel throughout that period.

<snip>
"It's one of the greatest train robberies in the history of the world," said Representative George Miller, a California Democrat who has fought royalty concessions on oil and gas for more than a decade. "It's the gift that keeps on giving."



more at link

[superconnected]

25. total corruption

:puke:

[Roland99]

26. Dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=2106894&mesg_id=2106894


;)

[pinniped]

27. Good thing this country doesn't need the extra cash.

.

[maddezmom]

28. kick

[UpInArms]

29. Gov'ment Could Lose Billions In Oil Royalties -taxpayers "hung out to dry"

http://www.ksat.com/money/7080225/detail.html?rss=ant&psp=money

WASHINGTON -- Despite record profits, oil and gas producers may avoid billions of dollars in royalty payments to the government because of a decade-old law designed to spur production when energy prices are low.

The Interior Department estimates that as much as $66 billion worth of oil and natural gas taken from the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico between now and 2011 will be exempt from government royalty payments.

That could amount to the government losing an estimated $7 billion to $9.5 billion based on anticipated production and current price projections for oil and gas, according to an analysis in the department's five-year budget plan.

The analysis assumes oil prices will hover around $50 a barrel and natural gas in the $8 to $9 per thousand cubic feet range between now and 2012.

Johnnie Burton, head of the department's Minerals Management Service, said Tuesday the actual revenue losses would be subject to many variables, but that more than $7 billion was "in the range" of probability.

...more...

[SpiralHawk]

30. BushCo REPUBLICAN Oil Cronies rejoice

Hip Hip hooray for the BushCo base: "The have-mores"

[meegbear]

31. I'm sure the repugs are scrambling right now to stop it ...

gay marriage, medicare, medicaid ....

[ninkasi]

32. Well, since he's so famous

for issuing Presidential signing statements, and making all kinds of other things up, why doesn't Chimp just get out that trusty pen of his and sign something to fix this? I mean, he's never let a pesky thing like a law stop him before? Surely, as a "compassionate conservative", he'd like to see that some of this money...which the oil companies DON'T need, can be used to restore children's lunch programs, elderly nutrition programs, and money for education, right? :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

As a self-proclaimed Christian, surely he wants to heed his favorite philosopher's words to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and help widows and orphans, right?

[Dover]

33. Same basic giveaway for other natural resources taken from OUR

lands...such as coal and metals and lumber....and water will be next! Let's face it. This nation is a profit-making joint venture for the very wealthy class whom we all serve.

[AzDar]

34. You know, 10 years from now, when this misAdministration is long gone..

I'm sure we'll all be sitting around our straw huts and laughing about shit like this.

[stepnw1f]

35. Bush Supporters Should ...

get an EXXON/Mobil tatoo on their forheads, since their support really is exclusively for the oil giants and not America.