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Total Fina SA and its affiliates have agreed to pay the federal government $14.6 million plus interest to resolve claims that the companies underpaid royalties owed on natural gas produced from federal and American Indian lands. The settlement between the United States and Total Fina, Total Oil and Chemical Co., Total Minatome Corp., Total Exploration Production U.S.A. Inc., Fina Oil & Chemical Co., Elf Exploration Inc. and Total E&P USA Inc. covers the period from August 1986 to the present. The agreement arises from a lawsuit filed by Harold E. Wright under the Federal False Claims Act. Under the qui tam, or whistleblower, provisions of the act, a private citizen may file actions on behalf of the U.S. government and share in the recovery of funds. Because Wright is deceased, his heirs will receive $23,000 as part of their share of the settlement. The Total settlement and numerous agreements with other energy companies in recent years have returned approximately $280 million to the federal government and Indian lessors, said Greg Gould, the Interior Department’s acting deputy assistant secretary for Natural Resources Revenue.

Water reclamation services firm STW Resources Holding Corp. is planning pilot projects in the Permian Basin of West Texas to process produced oilfield water. The Midland, TX-based firm said its mobile processing unit will handle up to 500 barrels of water per day for up to 10 days per site. Some of the processed water could be used for hydraulic fracturing (fracking).

Tulsa-based Oneok Inc. is selling subsidiary Oneok Energy Marketing Co., to Baltimore-based Constellation Energy Group Inc. for $22.5 million plus working capital.

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has withdrawn more than 3,300 acres of public land in southeast Ohio from a federal oil and natural gas lease sale scheduled for Dec. 7, pending a study on the possible effects hydraulic fracturing (fracking) could have on the state’s only national forest.

Recent acquisitions have put Australia’s BHP Billiton Ltd. in the “shale of the shales” and positioned it to be a low-cost provider in the development-friendly United States, the company’s petroleum unit chief, J. Michael Yeager, told financial analysts, noting that plans to export liquefied U.S. gas to the rest of the world are racing ahead and BHP is ready.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. CEO Aubrey McClendon has agreed to reimburse his company $12.1 million plus interest under a settlement agreement with shareholders that was filed in state court in Oklahoma City. McClendon in 2008 sold the company an antique map collection (see NGI, June 8, 2009). That year, in which he also received a $75 million bonus, McClendon had been forced by margin calls to sell 31.5 million shares in the company, or 94% of his holdings (see NGI, Oct. 13, 2008). Under a preliminary settlement agreement he is allowed to keep the bonus but has to reimburse the company for the maps. The company also agreed to several corporate governance and compensation changes, which include hiring an independent compensation consultant and forbidding executives from using Chesapeake stock to hedge or trade in puts or calls.

A new poll reveals that while most Pennsylvania voters, 62-30%, believe the economic benefits of drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale outweigh any environmental concerns, a majority, 64-27%, also want to see the industry taxed.

President Obama’s proposed $41 billion-plus in tax hikes and fees on oil and natural gas producers would reduce by as much as 35% the capital available for U.S. production, ultimately resulting in less government revenue and royalties, said an official with the Western Energy Alliance (WEA) last Thursday (see NGI, Sept. 19).

President Obama’s proposed $41 billion-plus in tax hikes and fees on oil and natural gas producers would reduce by as much as 35% the capital available for U.S. production, ultimately resulting in less government revenue and royalties, said an official with the Western Energy Alliance (WEA) Thursday.