Oil Companies Attack Legislation Aimed at Tax Incentives
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: January 13, 2007
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 — The nation’s oil and gas companies, hoping to fend off an attack by Congress on their tax breaks and subsidies, angrily denounced an effort by House Democratic leaders Friday that would repeal billions of dollars worth of incentives and plow the money into renewable energy projects.
“This bill takes capital from U.S. oil and natural gas companies that otherwise would be spent on domestic energy exploration,” said Barry Russell, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents about 5,000 smaller oil and gas producers. “If the goal is to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, then this bill falls far short.”
The giant integrated oil companies, like Chevron and Exxon Mobil, have been more resigned about losing some of their tax breaks but are quietly resisting pressure to renegotiate leases that allow them to pump billions of dollars worth of oil and gas from publicly owned waters without paying royalties to the government.
House Democratic leaders unveiled a bill on Friday that could raise more than $10 billion by repealing half a dozen incentives created in the last several years by the Republican-led Congress or by the Bush administration.
One measure would pressure companies to give up a lucrative loophole that the government inadvertently included in offshore drilling leases for the Gulf of Mexico.
LinkHere
Published: January 13, 2007
WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 — The nation’s oil and gas companies, hoping to fend off an attack by Congress on their tax breaks and subsidies, angrily denounced an effort by House Democratic leaders Friday that would repeal billions of dollars worth of incentives and plow the money into renewable energy projects.
“This bill takes capital from U.S. oil and natural gas companies that otherwise would be spent on domestic energy exploration,” said Barry Russell, president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents about 5,000 smaller oil and gas producers. “If the goal is to lessen our dependence on foreign oil, then this bill falls far short.”
The giant integrated oil companies, like Chevron and Exxon Mobil, have been more resigned about losing some of their tax breaks but are quietly resisting pressure to renegotiate leases that allow them to pump billions of dollars worth of oil and gas from publicly owned waters without paying royalties to the government.
House Democratic leaders unveiled a bill on Friday that could raise more than $10 billion by repealing half a dozen incentives created in the last several years by the Republican-led Congress or by the Bush administration.
One measure would pressure companies to give up a lucrative loophole that the government inadvertently included in offshore drilling leases for the Gulf of Mexico.
LinkHere
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 2:59 AM
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