Sept. 8
September 8, 2009
Wilda Marie Boudreaux Molaison
September 10, 2009
Twenty-nine more oil companies with operations in Terrebonne Parish are being sued for underreporting the property tax liability on the value of their oil and gas wells, adding to two suits filed in May against ConocoPhillips subsidiaries, according to a release from the Metairie law firm representing the parish.
New companies being sued by Terrebonne Parish assessor Gene Bonvillain include Apache Corporation, Castex Energy, Hilcorp Energy Company, Phoenix Exploration Company and Renaissance Petroleum Company, the release states.
Terrebonne Parish has around 50 companies producing oil and gas from more than 1,500 production units.
Because of the large number, the parish relies on companies to self-report the value of the oil and gas they produce to assess property taxes. Companies have to list how many taxable properties they own and the number that are producing oil and gas.
Bonvillain hired a tax consultant who found that companies were underreporting around $15 million in property taxes owed to Terrebonne, said Don Richard with Chehardy, Sherman, Ellis, Murray, Recile, Griffith, Stakelum & Hayes, who is representing the parish.
“They found a lot of property underreported,” Richard said in May. “He (Bonvillain) saw this was big.”
Bonvillain then hired Oklahoma-based property appraisers Visual Lease Services to inspect all oil and gas production units in the parish.
“He was relying on them (oil and gas companies) self-reporting but he had to hire VLS because he didn’t have the manpower,” Richard said.
The companies underreported or failed to report ownership of property worth tens of millions of dollars, the release states.
Property taxes on oil and gas wells are assessed by the amount the wells produce.
Wells producing more than 10 barrels of oil a day are charged the same amount of property tax. Units turning out fewer than 10 barrels a day pay less tax.
Non-producing units pay no property tax, according to existing regulations.
The companies filed incorrect information about the status of wells and their depreciated value, the release states.
In May, the parish sued the ConocoPhillips subsidiaries Louisiana Land & Exploration Company and Burlington Resources for underreporting the value of their oil and gas wells. The suit seeks to collect property taxes going back to 1998.
Richard said all companies producing oil and gas in Terrebonne could be sued.
This Apache Corp. well site was among 29 cited in the latest lawsuit filed on behalf of Terrebonne Parish Assessor Gene Bonvillain. The suit alleges that Apache Corp. owes the parish $16.4 million in ad valorem taxes. * Photo provided by CHEHARDY ET AL
