U.S. senators seek probe into royalties on coal exports

[Trakar]

U.S. senators seek probe into royalties on coal exports

...(Reuters) - Two influential U.S. senators have asked the Interior Department to examine whether coal companies are dodging hundreds of millions of dollars in royalty payments on lucrative sales to Asia, citing a Reuters investigation into the matter...

..."If any violations of the law have occurred, companies should be required to cure any gap in royalty payments and, if misconduct has occurred, civil penalties should be levied," reads the joint letter from Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, the incoming committee chairman, and the panel's leading Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski...

...
Powder River Basin coal, which supplies about 40 percent of U.S. demand, has typically gone to feed domestic power plants, and policymakers never considered Asian sales when they conceived royalty rules, Reuters reported in October.
The coal policies meant to keep domestic power cheap and abundant are now padding the bottom lines of companies like Arch Coal Inc, Peabody Energy Corp and Cloud Peak Energy Corp at the expense of taxpayers, Reuters reported last month.
The companies did not reply to a request for comment.
The senators cited Reuters reporting when they warned that coal miners may be selling to sister companies at artificially low prices to dodge royalty payouts.
Congress' investigative arm, the Government Accountability Office, has for months been examining the federal coal program. The Department of the Interior also has an open investigation.
"This is so obvious it shouldn't need to be said: Coal companies need to be paying taxpayers all of the money they are owed," Wyden said in a statement. "If regulators, or decades-old laws, are not doing enough to protect the public interest, our committee intends to find out, and to fix it."...

Read full article at title link.

 

[skookerasbil]

Trakkar s0n..........you have some significant OCD stuff going on. How many threads is it you started today? 9? 10? When you make 100 posts/day about global warming, you got issues. Google "Effexor XR" and check it out.......discuss it next time you see your physician. Trust me........you'll enjoy life alot more. Trust me......Im in the field and can see it from 1,000 miles away.


Obsessive Compulsive Disorder falls under the umbrella of depression. Dollar to 1,000 stale donuts you have some in your family line. Invariably, its genetic.

 

[Trakar]

Trakkar s0n..........you have some significant OCD stuff going on. How many threads is it you started today? 9? 10? When you make 100 posts/day about global warming, you got issues. Google "Effexor XR" and check it out.......discuss it next time you see your physician. Trust me........you'll enjoy life alot more. Trust me......Im in the field and can see it from 1,000 miles away.


Obsessive Compulsive Disorder falls under the umbrella of depression. Dollar to 1,000 stale donuts you have some in your family line. Invariably, its genetic.

You are evidently more obseessed with me than the subject of this thread or board, and while fans can be flattering, fanatics are seldom mentally stable.

I generally start an average of 3-5 threads on the days I visit these boards (usually 3 days a week for a few weeks every 3-4 months), and try to respond to at least one or two posts in the threads I have previously started if they are visible on the first page of threads on my user CP page. As my grandfather told me, most people tend to identify their own weaknesses and issues in the accusations they most often make of others. Perhaps you should visit your primary care physician and discuss your issues.

 

[Mr. H.]

We have coal policies "meant to keep domestic power cheap and abundant"?

More talk carbon energy bilking taxpayers. *yawn*

 

[Dubya]

We have coal policies "meant to keep domestic power cheap and abundant"?

More talk carbon energy bilking taxpayers. *yawn*

Hey, dummy, they are talking about taking coal from public lands, selling it overseas at high prices, but reporting lower prices so the government gets less money in royalties for it's coal. That's called a scam.

It doesn't have anything to do with domestic power, except coal prices are kept low domestically, so way to show your right-wing ignorance to the world! That's why our prices are less than they are overseas. Keep running your mouths like fools around people who know about things so the world can see you for exactly what you are!

Why don't you right-wingers send your wealth to the rich and leave the public wealth alone? If I had my way, I'd hire a company to dig coal on public lands and cut them out of the rest of the business. That way a company would just earn an honest profit.

 

[Trakar]

We have coal policies "meant to keep domestic power cheap and abundant"?

So your idea of sound business practices is to bilk citizens and taxpayers out of out of their fair share of the publically owned resources of the nation and then having them pick up the tab for the damages caused by dumping the emissions from those stolen resources into the atmosphere?

That is why there is a need for public regulation and oversight of the business world. Some individuals just don't get the idea of responsibility and fair business practices.

 

[Mr. H.]

We have coal policies "meant to keep domestic power cheap and abundant"?

More talk carbon energy bilking taxpayers. *yawn*

Hey, dummy, they are talking about taking coal from public lands, selling it overseas at high prices, but reporting lower prices so the government gets less money in royalties for it's coal. That's called a scam.

It doesn't have anything to do with domestic power, except coal prices are kept low domestically, so way to show your right-wing ignorance to the world! That's why our prices are less than they are overseas. Keep running your mouths like fools around people who know about things so the world can see you for exactly what you are!

Why don't you right-wingers send your wealth to the rich and leave the public wealth alone? If I had my way, I'd hire a company to dig coal on public lands and cut them out of the rest of the business. That way a company would just earn an honest profit.

That's MR dummy to you, bub.

This issue was addressed in another thread. Coal removed at "mine price" is paid royalty based on that price. At that point, it becomes the private property of the coal company and they can do any fucking thing they want with it.

You got that? Private property once it is mined, they take posession, and royalty paid.

If the government wants to pay to ship the shit overseas then sure they may have a claim to a higher royalty.

Reference for me how coal prices are kept low or else shut your fool liberal yap.

 

[whitehall]

What a weird story. Why aren't "the two influential senators" ever identified? They are obviously democrats because the democrat party holds the majority in the senate and controls committee chairmanships. The bottom line is that the democrats in the senate are afraid of a backlash in another attack on America's energy industry. What a bunch of cowards.

 

[Mr. H.]

We have coal policies "meant to keep domestic power cheap and abundant"?

So your idea of sound business practices is to bilk citizens and taxpayers out of out of their fair share of the publically owned resources of the nation and then having them pick up the tab for the damages caused by dumping the emissions from those stolen resources into the atmosphere?

That is why there is a need for public regulation and oversight of the business world. Some individuals just don't get the idea of responsibility and fair business practices.

I'm still waiting for more details on these coal policies "meant to keep domestic power cheap and abundant".

Coal is cheap and abundant because natural gas is cheap and abundant.

Where's the bilk? The fact that a business takes its private property to another market, makes a profit, and doesn't "share" it with your sorry liberal ass?

Stolen resources?

 

[Mr. H.]

Pwned moran babbies.

 

[Trakar]

We have coal policies "meant to keep domestic power cheap and abundant"?

So your idea of sound business practices is to bilk citizens and taxpayers out of out of their fair share of the publically owned resources of the nation and then having them pick up the tab for the damages caused by dumping the emissions from those stolen resources into the atmosphere?

That is why there is a need for public regulation and oversight of the business world. Some individuals just don't get the idea of responsibility and fair business practices.

I'm still waiting for more details on these coal policies "meant to keep domestic power cheap and abundant".

Coal is cheap and abundant because natural gas is cheap and abundant.

Where's the bilk? The fact that a business takes its private property to another market, makes a profit, and doesn't "share" it with your sorry liberal ass?

Stolen resources?

No, the "bilking" comes from the same crony capitalist thinking that always strives to bend and break rules whenever they think they can to steal whatever think they can get away with to stoke their greed.

The lease agreements specify that the coal companies leasing the rights to recover the coal will pay royalties based upon the price for which the coal is sold. The companies which are under investigation have only paid royalties based upon the US market value of the coal (which is rock bottom due to the surge of the cheap natural gas market) instead of the asian market value (which is sky-high) which is where these companies are actually selling the coal. This is stealing from the American public, and it amazes me that you find this to be "good business."

..."We are committed to collecting every dollar due," said Patrick Etchart, spokesman for the Office of Natural Resources Revenue, which collects federal royalties...
...Paying royalties calculated on the net-back formula for Asian exports from Wyoming and Montana rather than on the benchmark domestic price would have yielded around $40 million in additional revenue for the government last year alone, according to data from Goldman Sachs and other analysts, and figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Extended to the last few years of increased Asian demand, that total could exceed $100 million in forgone royalties. The sum could balloon into billions of dollars if mining giants are allowed to ship 150 million tons of coal a year or more through the Pacific Northwest, as the industry wants...

Asia coal export boom brings no bonus for US taxpayers - Open Channel

​

This from an independent news source investigation of limited scope, the bipartisan congressional investigation will have greater ability to identify and prosecute the criminals and recovery the monies owed to the US public.

 

[Mr. H.]

Royalties paid based on market value. How novel.

As you've stated. Those are the lease agreements.

Did it ever occur to you that the price at which the coal was sold equals the US market value of the coal ?

You are truly a stupid fuck.

 

[Trakar]

Royalties paid based on market value. How novel.

As you've stated. Those are the lease agreements.

Did it ever occur to you that the price at which the coal was sold equals the US market value of the coal ?

You are truly a stupid fuck.

Amazing, my take is the same as both democratic and republican senators, experts on these lease royalties, and independent market specialists in this field, and the only ones supporting your position are those accused of cheating and stealing from the american public, and that makes me a "stupid fuck?"

You have a seemingly very warped and deranged perspective of the world.

 

[Dubya]

We have coal policies "meant to keep domestic power cheap and abundant"?

More talk carbon energy bilking taxpayers. *yawn*

Hey, dummy, they are talking about taking coal from public lands, selling it overseas at high prices, but reporting lower prices so the government gets less money in royalties for it's coal. That's called a scam.

It doesn't have anything to do with domestic power, except coal prices are kept low domestically, so way to show your right-wing ignorance to the world! That's why our prices are less than they are overseas. Keep running your mouths like fools around people who know about things so the world can see you for exactly what you are!

Why don't you right-wingers send your wealth to the rich and leave the public wealth alone? If I had my way, I'd hire a company to dig coal on public lands and cut them out of the rest of the business. That way a company would just earn an honest profit.

That's MR dummy to you, bub.

This issue was addressed in another thread. Coal removed at "mine price" is paid royalty based on that price. At that point, it becomes the private property of the coal company and they can do any fucking thing they want with it.

You got that? Private property once it is mined, they take posession, and royalty paid.

If the government wants to pay to ship the shit overseas then sure they may have a claim to a higher royalty.

Reference for me how coal prices are kept low or else shut your fool liberal yap.

The government does pay for shipping, because all those costs are tax deductible and those corporations cook the books.

You want to help these corporations, give your own wealth to them and stop stealing the wealth of our nation! You right-wingers aren't capitalists, you're like communists with your corporatism.

There isn't any service that's required in acquiring energy that you can't get done by contract. You can find people to drill oil wells for you and oil service companies to do anything required to get that oil to market. You can contract a company to dig coal for you or whatever. Of course, the company you contract with has to make money, but you can monitor their expenses, so they don't cheat on taxes. If the rich want to make money, they can wake the hell up and start smartly investing the wealth they already have. We don't have to keep giving them more.

It's nonsense to give away public resources for pennies on the dollar with leases and royalties they won't even properly pay. If someone wants to make a public resource their private property, all they have to do is buy it at market prices.

 

[Dubya]

What a weird story. Why aren't "the two influential senators" ever identified? They are obviously democrats because the democrat party holds the majority in the senate and controls committee chairmanships. The bottom line is that the democrats in the senate are afraid of a backlash in another attack on America's energy industry. What a bunch of cowards.

You are just too lazy to read the OP or the article, you dumb, right-wing piece of shit!

"If any violations of the law have occurred, companies should be required to cure any gap in royalty payments and, if misconduct has occurred, civil penalties should be levied," reads the joint letter from Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, the incoming committee chairman, and the panel's leading Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski.

Source: U.S. senators seek probe into royalties on coal exports | Reuters

 

[uscitizen]

What a weird story. Why aren't "the two influential senators" ever identified? They are obviously democrats because the democrat party holds the majority in the senate and controls committee chairmanships. The bottom line is that the democrats in the senate are afraid of a backlash in another attack on America's energy industry. What a bunch of cowards.

Umm they were identified in the OP.
Still having trouble reading?

 

[bripat9643]

We have coal policies "meant to keep domestic power cheap and abundant"?

So your idea of sound business practices is to bilk citizens and taxpayers out of out of their fair share of the publically owned resources of the nation and then having them pick up the tab for the damages caused by dumping the emissions from those stolen resources into the atmosphere?

That is why there is a need for public regulation and oversight of the business world. Some individuals just don't get the idea of responsibility and fair business practices.

There are no damages from coal emissions.

 

[Dubya]

We have coal policies "meant to keep domestic power cheap and abundant"?

So your idea of sound business practices is to bilk citizens and taxpayers out of out of their fair share of the publically owned resources of the nation and then having them pick up the tab for the damages caused by dumping the emissions from those stolen resources into the atmosphere?

That is why there is a need for public regulation and oversight of the business world. Some individuals just don't get the idea of responsibility and fair business practices.

There are no damages from coal emissions.

Tell it to the judge, because I post how 9 states sued the EPA for not obeying the law on mercury emissions.

You are going to have to do better than your mouth.

 

[Mr. H.]

Royalties paid based on market value. How novel.

As you've stated. Those are the lease agreements.

Did it ever occur to you that the price at which the coal was sold equals the US market value of the coal ?

You are truly a stupid fuck.

Amazing, my take is the same as both democratic and republican senators, experts on these lease royalties, and independent market specialists in this field, and the only ones supporting your position are those accused of cheating and stealing from the american public, and that makes me a "stupid fuck?"

You have a seemingly very warped and deranged perspective of the world.

Ok, the stupid f* was the booze talking. My apologies.

More later...

 

[Trakar]

Royalties paid based on market value. How novel.

As you've stated. Those are the lease agreements.

Did it ever occur to you that the price at which the coal was sold equals the US market value of the coal ?

You are truly a stupid fuck.

Amazing, my take is the same as both democratic and republican senators, experts on these lease royalties, and independent market specialists in this field, and the only ones supporting your position are those accused of cheating and stealing from the american public, and that makes me a "stupid fuck?"

You have a seemingly very warped and deranged perspective of the world.

Ok, the stupid f* was the booze talking. My apologies.

More later...

No problems, I fully understand that "warpage and derangement" and occassionally suffer the same affliction. In fact, I've got about a half mason jar of some homemade "biofuel" that for some reason I can't remember whether was any good or not. I may have to break it out later on and give you a toast.