Too easy…:

Government officials in charge of collecting billions of dollars worth of royalties from oil and gas companies accepted lavish gifts, steered contracts to favored firms and engaged in illicit sex with employees of the energy companies, federal investigators reported today.

Investigators from the Interior Department’s inspector general’s office said more than a dozen employees, including the former director of the oil royalty program, accepted gifts including ski trips, sports tickets and golf outings. The report alleges that the former director, Gregory W. Smith, also arranged side deals that personally netted him more than $30,000.

The report contains fresh allegations about the culture and practices at the beleaguered royalty-in-kind program of Interior’s Minerals Management Service, which last year collected more than $4 billion worth of oil and natural gas from companies given contracts to tap energy on federal and Indian lands and offshore. The revelations come as Congress is set to consider opening up federal lands in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge and offshore of Florida for drilling.

The program, based near Denver, has been under multiple investigations since 2006 by the Interior Department’s secretary, its inspector general, the Justice Department and Congress for alleged mismanagement and conflicts of interest.

In the report released today, investigators said they “discovered a culture of substance abuse and promiscuity.” Nineteen oil marketers and other employees in the office are accused of having personal, and sometimes sexual, relationships with representatives from a group of favorite oil and gas companies from 2002 through 2006.

LOL…think lube was involved?

On a serious note though, hijinx like the above feed the practical argument against the State handling this kind of crap.  A philosophical/moral argument is here, in case any newcomers are unfamiliar with my view of property rights w/r/t natural resources.