Lonesome Dove Petroleum Company
Lonesome Dove Petroleum Company (“Lonesome Dove” or the “Corporation”) is a Texas Corporation that owns oil and gas royalty interests and mineral rights in 11 states in the United States. Lonesome Dove, and its predecessor corporations, which were foreign corporations registered to conduct business in the United States Virgin Islands, were ordered by the District Court of the Virgin Islands into Federal Receivership for the benefit of the Government of the Virgin Islands, in satisfaction of tax obligations of over $21,000,000 owed to the Virgin Islands. Upon termination of the Receivership, the Virgin Islands Public Finance Authority (the “Authority”) became the designated entity to operate and manage Lonesome Dove for the express purpose of satisfying the company’s obligation for the taxes and interest owed. More specifically, Act 7864 authorized the Authority to receive, hold and manage the shares of Lonesome Dove Company and to provide for the disposition of any income realized from the shares, including causing the Corporation to make payments to satisfy the Corporation’s obligation for taxes and interest owed to the Government of the Virgin Islands. All royalties paid to Lonesome Dove for federal oil and gas leases and mineral interests are deposited by the Authority into the Lonesome Dove Petroleum Special Revolving Fund (the “Fund”), which is established as a separate, distinct, and non-lapsing fund in the Treasury of the Virgin Islands. The Fund consists of all sums collected by the Virgin Islands Internal Revenue Bureau from the Lonesome Dove Petroleum for its outstanding income tax obligations and accrued interest.
The monies from the Fund are expended as follows:
- The first $500,000 deposited into the Fund annually must be used to assist the Senior Citizens’ Center Fund for the upkeep, maintenance, and operation of senior citizens’ centers under the jurisdiction of the Department of Human Services and to acquire vehicles for the transportation of senior citizens throughout the territory, as approved by the Governor.
- All sums received in any fiscal year in excess of $500,000 must be used to finance central government, missing employer contributions to the Government Employees Retirement System (the “GERS”) or to abate and assist the GERS in reducing its unfunded liability.