Oil Companies Attack Legislation Aimed at Tax Incentives

[Joanne98]

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.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/13/business/13royalty.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[napi21]

1. Ohhh, poor little millionairs. Will they have to take a paycut and

reduce their income down to only a few million a year?? How damn sad for them!!!!!!!!!

[merwin]

10. You mean billionaires, don't you?

[goforit]

11. Probably trillionaires.

[rfranklin]

2. We need to reduce our dependence on OIL, not just...

foreign oil and that's what's missing in their squeals and whining protests.

[rodeodance]

3. seems they only know the word DIG

[denverbill]

4. What bull.

“This bill takes capital from U.S. oil and natural gas companies that otherwise would be spent on domestic energy exploration,”

Yeah, like that $200 million dollar severance package the former head of Exxon got? Wouldn't that $200 million have been better spent on 'exploration' to 'lessen our dependence on foreign oil'?

We should slap a 50% tax on all oil industry profits and use the money to promote renewable energy.

[lakeguy]

5. i though it was 500 mil after it was all said and done? nt

[Joanne98]

7. This article saz it was 400 mil. But I think it ended up to be 500 mil

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=1841989

The greed has no limit.

[Tellurian]

6. A good rule of thumb..

would be when their balance sheet reflects LOSSES..
and mandatory cost cutting measures have not met expectations
necessitating employee layoffs.

Then and only then, will Tax incentives be up for consideration.

[DiverDave]

8. Fuck em, nationalize them, along

with big pharma and the insurance industry.

Wanna hear them squeal?, just mention the POSSIBILITY of that to them...lol

Watch the rich asshole scream their bloody heads off.

[Joanne98]

13. That's exactly what I would like to do.

[R_M]

9. Drop Dead! ExxonMobil's 10 BILLION dollar quarterly profit...

isn't enough for this Texas Kennedy Killers??? :wtf:

Tax the living hell out of them and invest in alternative energy sources!

[goforit]

12. March 17 Protest should be on Oil companies, not the Pentagon.

[brentspeak]

14. "otherwise would be spent on domestic energy exploration"

Uh, yeah. Right.

The oil and gas companies already have enough money to perform domestic energy exploration a hundred-times over. The greed and outright dishonesty of the oil and gas companies is almost as sickening as the way our government has catered to them.

[w4rma]

15. Currently big oil has an incentive to make big profits without doing anything differently.

This is a first step in changing big oil's stagnation.

[Diane R]

16. You know the boy king will veto this.

[Mythsaje]

17. Let's just nationalize the fuckers

and be done with it. Confiscate all their assets and equipment and run them out of the country on a rail.

:evilgrin:

[radfringe]

18. coming soon

we'll be hearing because the oil companies won't be making as large of a profit heating fuel/gas prices will go up and there will be "concerned hand wringing and wailing" about how it will hurt consumers

start now by calling any rise in gas prices a "profit hike"

[Roland99]

19. American companies used to be about innovation. Time these lazy, greedy bastards got a reality check