Woodside Energy Group (ASX:WDS) alleged that the US Department of Interior showed bias and hostility toward oil and gas producers in a lawsuit in the Louisiana District Court, claiming that it and other companies were wrongly charged billions of dollars worth of excess royalties, The Australian Financial Review reported Monday.

The matter concerns the calculation of royalties between February 2011 and July 2017 in relation to oil and gas assets in US waters, which were then owned by BHP. Firms traditionally deducted the cost of transporting oil and gas from their tenements to the point of sale when calculating the royalties payable. However, the department challenged this practice.

Woodside claimed that the changed interpretation led to "likely multi-billion dollar negative impact" for the firm and neighboring oil producers.

The firm inherited the dispute when it acquired BHP's petroleum division in 2021. Its lawsuit is one of eight similar claims filed by oil and gas producers working in US waters.

Woodside Energy has yet to respond to an email request for comment from Mt Newswires.

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