Empresas y finanzas

U.S. fines BP $5 million for reports on tribal lands

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Department of Interior said on Wednesday it fined BP Plc a civil penalty of $5.2 million for submitting "false, inaccurate, or misleading" reports for energy output on tribal lands in Colorado.

It was the first big fine levied by the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, formerly known as the Minerals Management Service.

Southern Ute tribal auditors said they initially discovered errors during an audit and notified BP <:BP.LO:>in August 2007. They said BP reported incorrect royalty rates, prices, and well production of oil or natural gas on leases.

"It is simply unacceptable for companies to repeatedly misreport production, particularly when it interferes with the auditing process," Michael R. Bromwich, the director of BOEM, said in a release.

BP did not return phone calls about the fine.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Tom Doggett; Editing by Walter Bagley)

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