WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today the House Appropriations Committee adopted an amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill FY 2007 that would end the royalty relief giveaways to big oil and gas companies that could total billions of dollars in coming years.  Representative Maurice Hinchey (D-NY),  offered Representative Markey’s “Royalty Relief for American Consumers Act of 2006” as an amendment to the Appropriations bill.

“America’s consumers are being tipped upside down and having money shaken out of their pockets by Big Oil companies,” said Rep. Markey, a senior Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee and Resources Committee. .  “It is about time we put an end to these tax breaks for these companies that are making money off of consumers hand over fist.”

H.R. 4749, the “Royalty Relief for American Consumers Act of 2006” was introduced by Rep. Markey on February 14th and was originally  sponsored by Democratic Reps. Miller, Waxman, Maloney, Emanuel, Grijalva, Pallone and Inslee. This legislation would prevent royalty relief on new leases when oil and gas prices spike up and instructs the Secretary of Interior to seek to renegotiate current leases which provide royalty relief regardless of how high prices soar.

Today Republicans successfully weakened the amendment by eliminating language that would have prevented big oil companies who refused to renegotiate existing leases with no price cap from purchasing new leases. Big oil companies can produce oil from these leases in the Gulf of Mexico without ever paying royalties to the federal government.

Rep. Markey blasted the weakening of the Secretary of Interior’s ability to renegotiate those leases that could cost the federal government $20 to 80 billion over the next 25 years.

“We need to give the Secretary a big stick as she attempts to recoup some of the billions and billions of dollars in losses to the American taxpayer over the next 25 years,” said Rep. Markey. “For the Republicans to attempt to take the teeth out of that renegotiation is unconscionable – American taxpayers deserve better.”

For more information on Rep. Markey’s work on energy policy check out http://markey.house.gov/