Dole and royalty relief

The 2005 energy bill had a little-discussed royalty relief provision for oil companies.

A recent TV ad attacking U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole's record on energy cites a New York Times editorial from March 28, 2006, on the vote.

Here's the background, from a March 27 story in the Times:

Starting in 1995, Congress began allowing oil companies drilling in deep water owned by the federal government in the Gulf of Mexico to escape the standard 12 percent royalty payments.

The law was supposed to include a safety valve to force companies to pay royalties when the price for oil or gas was high, but Clinton administration officials forgot to include the clause in leases it signed and a court decision in 2003 more than doubled the amount they could drill.

The Bush administration also raised the threshold on new leases before royalties would kick in.

In 2005, Congress debated a massive energy bill. Among its provisions was an extension of the "royalty relief" program for another five years and some new benefits.

House Republicans who pushed the provision argued that it would have no cost, but in February of the following year Bush administration officials pegged the cost at about $7 billion over five years, or as much as $28 billion if oil companies prevailed in another lawsuit.