ExxonMobil to pay $32.2 million in back-royalties to U.S.

WASHINGTON - Exxon Mobil Corp will pay $32.2 million to the United States to resolve claims that some of its units knowingly underpaid royalties owed on natural gas, the Justice Department said on April 5.
The government alleged that Mobil Natural Gas Inc., Mobil Exploration & Producing U.S. Inc. and affiliates underreported the value of natural gas taken from federal and American Indian leases between March 1, 1988 and Nov. 30, 1999.
As a result, the Mobil entities paid lower royalties than they owed to the United States and to American Indian tribes, the government said. The Mobil entities became part of Exxon Mobil through a 1999 merger.
The case arose out of a lawsuit filed by a private citizen on behalf of the United States under the whistleblower provisions of the federal False Claims Act.
Various other energy companies have agreed to pay more than $200 million to settle their portions of the lawsuit.