Posted on 08/27/2008 6:14:53 AM PDT by eeevil conservative
Court Orders US Govt. to Pay Oil Companies $1B for Lease Breach
"A U.S. appeals court Monday awarded nearly a dozen oil companies more than $1 billion to recover costs from breached 1980s exploration and production leases off the coast of California.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a previous court's decision for the plaintiffs claiming the government owed them for the bonuses paid for the Outer Continental Shelf leases.
It may send a strong signal to congressional lawmakers who've been trying to force oil companies to pay royalties on offshore oil and gas leases signed in the late 1990s that omitted royalty relief provisions.
"It's very important to have reaffirmed the principle that when the government enters contracts with companies, it's held to the obligation either to fulfill those contractual obligations or pay damages if it doesn't," Steven Rosenbaum, a partner with Covington & Burling LP and counsel for the plaintiffs, told Dow Jones Newswires.
The plaintiffs include Amber Resources Co., Delta Petroleum Corp., Total SA, Plains Exploration and Production, Noble Energy, Anadarko E&P and Devon Energy Production. An official at the U.S. Department of Interior, which was responsible for the lease sales, said she couldn't immediately comment.
Between 1979 and 1984, the federal government granted around 35 leases to explore for and produce oil and natural gas off the California coast. But after a series of legal battles over the Coastal Zone Management Plan, the oil companies weren't able to use the leases, and they ultimately expired or were suspended by the government.
The court's Monday decision said nearly a dozen companies holding leases for the undeveloped tracts off Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties should be reimbursed for what they paid decades ago for the leases.
The court also confirmed a previous court ruling that denied plaintiffs' claims for damages attributable to possible income that may have come from developing the leases.
The government could appeal the decision for the case to be heard by the entire court panel - rather than the three judges who issued the current ruling - or appeal to the Supreme Court.
Asked if the case sends a message to Congress on lawmakers' attempts to force many oil companies to pay royalties on 1998-1999 leases in the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico, Rosenbaum said: "This confirms that the government can't change the terms of the leases after they're issued."
The ruling comes as federal lawmakers and presidential candidates fight over energy policy, with Republicans pressing hard to open up more of the Outer Continental Shelf for exploration. Few industry analysts believe the California coast will come into play, but the case highlights one of the repercussions of the state's strong drive to block drilling off its coast."
Good penelopesire. I saw your ping on another thread but couldn’t find the thread - even in a search! Lol
sorry..I should have linked it when I pinged you.
No problem!
You won’t find any oil there, but I’d bet there’s botox between them ears! What does a barrel of botox sell for?
The repubbie platform committee is meeting now - What is the most effective way to influence THAT group?
Hugh Donations.
"As discussion regarding domestic exploration for oil and natural gas off Florida’s coast grips the nation’s attention, new poll results today released by Associated Industries of Florida (AIF) demonstrate a significant increase in the percent of Floridians in favor of drilling off the state’s coast over the percent of those in favor this time last year. The McLaughlin & Associates poll, conducted last week, concluded 73.2 percent of Floridians favor drilling for oil off the coast of Florida – a 10 percentage-point increase over the previous year’s poll results.
Further, the results show bipartisan support of the issue with the majority of Florida Democrats (63 percent) and Republicans (84 percent) in favor. Seventy percent of Independents were also in favor of offshore drilling.
“We have been polling this issue for more than two years and the numbers speak for themselves. It doesn’t matter if you call yourself a conservative, a liberal or a moderate, the message Floridians are sending is consistently clear – we favor drilling, and the numbers just keep going up,” said Barney Bishop, president and CEO of AIF...
“Washington, this is your wake-up call. Now is the time to break from traditional party lines and help alleviate our country’s dependence on foreign oil by listening to your constituents and their call for increased domestic oil exploration.”"
Still here.
My apologies to all for “our” governor (Schweitzer) and that little bumper sticker reading he afflicted on the airwaves last night.
After you note that his initials really are “BS”, you’ve said about all there is to say about the bum.
Americans favor offshore drilling
"Poll finds most people think drilling for oil and natural gas off the nation's coast lines is a good idea."
Poll: 74 percent support offshore oil drilling in U.S.
"Three in four likely voters – 74 percent – support offshore drilling for oil in U.S. coastal waters and more than half (59 percent) also favor drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge, a new Zogby International telephone poll shows."
Wow! Pelosi & Reed say oil companies need to drill on the leases they already have, yet her base (the enviroweenies) keep the companies locked up in court so they can’t drill. Then we, the taxpayers, have to pay for the losses incurrred by the oil companies being hamstrung by Pelosi and her “dancing handmaidens” of the, barking moonbat left.
Pelosi and Reed are drilling her and now right up the collective a** of the American taxpayer!
her = here
Now we can feature that “Drill your brains” crack by Pelosi. She’s feeling the heat.
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