On dry land, far from their offshore oil spill currently ruining much of the U.S. Gulf Coast, BP has been fined $5.2 million for submitting "false, inaccurate, or misleading" reports for oil and gas production on Southern Ute Indian Tribal lands in southwestern Colorado.
Although the $5,189,800 civil fine was assessed by the U.S. Department of the Interior, the "false, inaccurate, or misleading" nature of BP's production reporting was discovered by Southern Ute Indian Tribal auditors. "The Tribe was instrumental in documenting the ongoing errors," states the Interior Department in a press release.
According to the Tribe and the Interior Department, BP incorrectly reported production rates and costs used to calculate royalties paid to the Tribe, and falsely reported well production on leases other than those to which the production was actually attributable.
In their investigation, the Interior Department and Tribal auditors found that BP had continued to falsify production reports even after repeatedly promising to correct the reporting errors, "leading us to conclude that BP's continued submission of erroneous reports was knowing or willful."
"It is simply unacceptable for companies to repeatedly misreport production, particularly when it interferes with the auditing process," said Michael R. Bromwich director of the brand new Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement. "We are committed to collecting every dollar due from energy production that occurs on Federal and American Indian lands, and accurate reporting is crucial to that effort."
Also See:
BP Oil Spill Payments to be Taxed
Government Looking for Crimes in BP Oil Spill
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