9-15-08
An inspector general’s report about years of hard partying, drug use and lavish
gifts at the Denver office of federal oil regulators fingered the involvement of Chevron, Shell
and a smaller company. The report was years in the making. But it left unanswered a lot
of questions about the oil companies’ roles–especially Chevron’s. Were the gifts,
entertainment and other blandishments known to execs outside the
companies’ Denver offices? How about the "intimate relationships?" Were the expenses approved, and by who?
Were the employees reimbursed for all the sports and entertainment
tickets, parties and outings offered to the bureaucrats of the
federal Minerals Management office in Denver? Congress, bless its
heart, is demanding answers.
Rep. Ed Markey, who chairs the House
Select Committee on Energy Independence, is the inquiring mind behind
letters sent today to the presidents of all three companies. His letter asks:
–Did any senior executives at the companies have any knowledge, at
any point in time, that employees were providing gifts to Interior
Department employees or officials in violation of federal law?–Did
any senior executives at the companies direct any employee to seek out
inappropriately close relationships with Interior Department employees
or officials?–Were any company funds used directly or on a reimbursable basis to provide prohibited gifts to Interior Department employees?
–Did
the oil companies allocate funds in advance for the purchase of gifts
for Interior Department or any other Bush administration employees or
officials?
There’s plenty of reason to ask all of these questions. Too bad, however, that there are no subpoenas involved.
The Bush
administration has refused to pursue criminal charges, despite the
blatancy and arrogance of the misbehavior. And Chevron was specifically
blamed in the report for stonewalling about the actions of its
employees.
Given that the Minerals service, is responsible for seeing
that taxpayers get full value on billions of dollars in royalties for oil taken from public
lands. why would we want more drilling until we know the full story,
and get some hard guarantees? For starters, we don’t want regulators swaggering around like wildcatters just to prove that they’re part of the oil crowd.