Marathon Agrees to Settle Royalties Suit

USX Corp. unit Marathon Oil Co. agreed to pay $7.7 million to the U.S. government to settle claims that it failed to pay royalties on oil drilled from leases on federal and Native American lands, the Justice Department said. The settlement, which covers alleged underpayments between 1988 and 1998, brings to an end charges brought by two whistle-blowers that Marathon, along with other oil companies, tried to shortchange the government on royalty fees. Former Atlantic Richfield Co. marketing managers J. Benjamin Johnson and John Martineck--the whistle-blowers--brought the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Lufkin, Texas. They will get part of the settlement, as is allowed under federal law, for bringing the royalty fee lawsuit. Arco was acquired by Britain’s BP Amoco. Including the Marathon agreement, the Justice Department has reached settlements totaling more than $400 million on oil royalty underpayments with 14 energy companies.