Denver-based Gary-Williams Energy Co. has agreed pay $2.73 million as part of a settlement of allegations it failed to pay money owed on oil acquired from the Department of the Interior, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Denver.
The federal government contended that Gary-Williams Energy failed to pay all the money owed from leases in the Gulf of Mexico from October 2008 to September 2009.
Gary-Williams claimed it was entitled to certain price reductions and credits based on the costs of shipping oil that it acquired to various market centers.
But instead of transporting the oil it acquired, as it claimed, the company transferred title to the oil at the wellhead to a third party and was not entitled to the price reductions and credits.
“When oil and gas companies report to the federal government what they owe for the oil and other natural resources they take from public lands, they need to understand that ‘close enough’ is not ‘good enough’,” U.S. Attorney John F. Walsh said in a statement.
“We and our law enforcement partners stand ready to hold these companies accountable to taxpayers when they don’t tell the whole truth about what they need to pay,” Walsh said.
