Earth Equity News

Oil Brokers and U.S. Royalty Collection Agents Caught in Drug, Sex, Gratuity Scandal. By H. Josef Hebert, AP, September 12, 2008. "A scandal involving sex, drugs and -- uh, offshore oil drilling. It's a strange mix, and it couldn't have come at a worse time for those in Congress pressing to expand oil and gas development off America's beaches while trying to stave off an election-year rush by Democrats to impose new taxes and royalties on the oil industry... The two-year, $5.3 million investigation by Interior's inspector general found workers at the Minerals Management Service's royalty collection office in Denver partying, having sex, using drugs and accepting gifts and ski trips and golf outings from energy company representatives with whom they did government business. The investigations exposed 'a culture of ethical failure' and an agency rife with conflicts of interest, Inspector General Earl E. Devaney said. Between 2002 and 2006, 19 oil marketers -- nearly a third of the Denver office staff -- received gifts and gratuities from oil and gas companies, including Chevron Corp., Shell, Hess Corp. and Denver-based Gary-Williams Energy Corp., the investigators found. 'Employees frequently consumed alcohol at industry functions, had used cocaine and marijuana, and had sexual relationships with oil and natural gas company representatives' who referred to some of the government workers as the 'MMS Chicks'... The impact in Congress, where lawmakers are debating an expansion of the offshore oil and gas leasing program by allowing drilling in areas long off limits, was immediate. 'This is why we must not allow Big Oil's agenda to be jammed through Congress,' said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who strongly opposes any expansion of offshore drilling."