A case filed under the False Claims Act has resulted in the payment of $6.9 million to the United States by energy companies Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration & Production Inc. and Marathon Oil Company, for their failure to pay in full royalties on natural gas produced on federal and Indian leases.
Tony West, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division of the Department of Justice, clarified his department’s commitment to “protecting public and Indian lands and to ensuring that companies with leases to take natural gas from those lands pay their fair share of royalties.”
The qui tam law suit was filed by whistleblower Harold Wright under the False Claims Act. As he is deceased, his heirs will receive his share of the settlement, $1.822 million.