Gee here’s a shocker……..

By Steven Mufson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 7, 2006; Page D03

The agency that collects royalties from oil and gas producers lacks the data, coordination and manpower to keep track of companies operating on federal land and in federal waters, a report by the Interior Department’s inspector general said.

The report criticized the Minerals Management Service for relying on “compliance reviews,” which depend on information provided by the companies, rather than detailed audits, independent information or site visits.

The report said record-keeping was so shoddy that a random selection of five supposedly completed audits found that one had never begun and two were unfinished. “MMS could not accurately count the number of audits and compliance reviews that were completed each fiscal year,” the report said.

The agency, which collected $12.8 billion in royalties this year, has been criticized by members of Congress for writing leases in 1998 and 1999 that allowed major oil companies drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to avoid billions of dollars of royalty payments. The MMS is negotiating with companies in an effort to correct that and collect some of the money.

Read more at the Washington Post

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