Byline: United Press International
Atlantic Richfield Co. paid $287 million Wednesday to Alaska to settle charges that the company undervalued its North Slope crude oil in order to reduce what it owed the state in royalty payments, top state officials said.
Alaska sued a dozen oil companies in 1977 alleging that they set the value of their oil artificially low, thus short-changing the state in royalty payments.
Alaska owns the oil-rich land at Prudhoe Bay and, as part of the leases to pump oil, petroleum producers agreed to pay the state a 12.5 percent royalty based on the value of the oil.
In agreeing to pay more than $287.1 million in …
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