Royalties

Looking to tap into stranded natural gas in the state of Kentucky, Australian-Canadian Oil Royalties Ltd. (ACOR) said Monday it has signed a general pooling agreement on the Park City Gas Field in Kentucky and also plans to construct a low-pressure natural gas gathering system to get gas from the project to market.

El Paso Corp. has agreed to pay $30 million to settle claims that it allegedly underpaid royalties for production from natural gas wells in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico, according to the company’s annual 10-K report that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday.

Saskatchewan’s government has introduced a plan to increase exploration and development activity by lowering oil and gas royalty and tax structures, implementing a system of volume incentives and reducing corporate capital tax surcharges.

Saskatchewan’s government has introduced a plan to increase exploration and development activity by lowering oil and gas royalty and tax structures, implementing a system of volume incentives and reducing corporate capital tax surcharges.

Texaco Inc. has agreed to pay $43 million to settle charges byseveral whistleblowers that the firm underpaid royalties due oncrude oil drilled from federal and Indian leases, The U.S. JusticeDepartment said Wednesday. The settlement covers underpayments fromJanuary 1980 to through December 1998. Two former AtlanticRichfield Co. marketing managers brought the lawsuit in the U.S.District Court in Lufkin, TX, and will receive part of the Texacosettlement. The settlement agreement was signed by representativesof several Indian tribes, as well as the federal government. Thegovernment has reached similar settlements on royalty underpaymentswith Mobil, Occidental Petroleum, Chevron, BP Amoco, Conoco, DevonEnergy, Union Pacific Resources and Sunoco.

The United States District Court for the District of Columbiahas struck down a controversial part of the Interior Department’s1997 royalty valuation rule for natural gas, which incorporatedmarketing costs in the valuation. (Civ. No. 98-00531)