"The Supreme Court won't review an appellate decision blocking the Interior Department from ending royalty waivers at times of high oil and gas prices for deepwater energy producers in the Gulf of Mexico.

The court's rejection of a federal petition to review Department of Interior, et al., v. Kerr-McGee Oil and Gas Corp. means the government could lose tens of billions of dollars in future royalty revenue. It likely prevents Interior from imposing price-based limits on the royalty incentives -- called 'royalty relief' -- for deepwater producers holding federal leases granted between 1996 and 2000."

Ben Geman reports for Greenwire in the New York Times October 5, 2009. [2]