Shell Offshore Inc. has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve claims that it underpaid royalties owed on oil and natural gas produced from federal leases, Interior Department’s Office of Natural Resources Revenue (ONRR) said Tuesday.

The settlement agreement covers both royalty-in-value and royalty-in-kind production from Shell deepwater leases in the Gulf of Mexico, according to ONRR. It covers the period from Sept. 1, 2000 to Dec. 31, 2008 for oil and from July 1, 2000 to Dec. 31, 2008 for natural gas.

ONRR said its audit and compliance management team discovered the various valuation improprieties while conducting audits of Shell Offshore leases.

“This resolution demonstrates ONRR’s commitment to pursue all revenues due from energy production that occurs on federal onshore and offshore lands,” said Greg Gould, acting deputy assistant secretary for natural resources revenue in Interior’s Office of Policy, Management and Budget.

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