Oil Group Blasts US Democrats' Tax Agenda

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=39740

U.S. House Democrats' plan to snatch back billions of dollars worth of tax incentives from Big Oil will reduce domestic production and make the nation more dependent on foreign oil, industry officials say.

The oil industry has been put on the defensive as Democrats plow forward with a plan to swiftly approve an energy bill that would repeal significant oil subsidies and set up a reserve fund for renewable energy. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said Democrats' focus on solar, geothermal and other renewable energy would reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Democrats also want to force oil companies that have been avoiding paying royalties to the federal government to pay up. For example, Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., has touted a plan that would bar energy companies from bidding on future drilling contracts in the Gulf of Mexico without first renegotiating flawed 1998 and 1999 leases. Those leases allow oil companies to forgo paying royalties to the federal government.

But, according to oil lobbying group American Petroleum Institute, that proposal would put U.S. oil firms at a disadvantage compared to foreign-based oil companies. It "outsources the Gulf of Mexico to foreign companies," API Chief Economist John Felmy said Thursday.

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Oh gosh, the oil industry says "don't tax us!" At least this didn't appear in a "news" forum!

.

It's likely to cost me money since my pop was very fond of oil stocks, but I'd prefer to pay my fair share than watch people going into debt to avoid hunger and dying from curable illnesses.

Oil companies will do very nicely with depreciation allowances, oil depletion allowances, and all the other deductions they get for the cost of exploration and retrieval. They don't need giveaways and neither do I.

My very first thought on reading the subject line - Fuck 'em.

.....then the Dems got the right idea.....