Sweetheart deals to oil companies

Sweetheart deals to oil companies
Posted: December 12, 2007
1:00 am Eastern

By Joel Hesch
© 2008 

How much are you paying at the pump now? $2.79 per gallon? $3.20? As gas prices keep going up, don't you wonder if the costs to the oil companies are really going up or if something else is going on?

None of us really knows the truth about all the ways oil companies are gouging us, but I can shed light on a few ways they are cheating.

The government offers all the major oil companies an opportunity to remove oil and natural gas from federal lands or offshore areas controlled by the government. In return, they simply pay the government a royalty payment of one-eighth or one-sixth of the price for their first sale of the raw oil or natural gas. More...