Barbara Boxer: “This Los Angeles Times article says, ``The Great American Oil Ripoff.'' It says: America's big oil companies have been…”

“This Los Angeles Times article says, ``The Great American Oil Ripoff.'' It says: America's big oil companies have been ripping off Federal and State governments for decades by underpaying royalties for oil drilled on public lands. The Interior Department tried to stop the practice with new rules, but Congress has succeeded in blocking their implementation, and will again if the Senate bill calling for a moratorium on the new rules proposed by Senators Hutchison and Domenici comes up before the Senate. It has and here we are. The large integrated oil companies, not the small independent producers, have been cheating the State and Federal Treasuries by computing their royalties on the so-called ``posted rights'' rather than the fair market price. That is what we are talking about, computing royalties on posted rights, rather than fair market price. It could be as much as $4 or $5 a barrel lower. The Interior Department estimates this practice costs the taxpayers up to $66 million a year. Senator Hutchison says it is $11 million, and that is a lot; but we think it is $66 million, and so does the OMB. Two years ago, Interior drew up rules that would stop the underpayment but Congress has blocked implementation. They go on to explain: The bottom line is, Congress should not buckle to the pressure of the oil companies, and the Hutchison amendment should be defeated.”