Posted on 03/22/2013 8:15:02 AM PDT by thackney
The Senate completed passage of the governor's oil-tax revamp Thursday, confirming its original 11-9 vote on reconsideration.
After all the drama Wednesday -- a session that spanned nine hours and featured long debates on amendments and then on Senate Bill 21 itself -- only one senator asked for debate time Wednesday.
"I read that I spoke for about 40 minutes last night," said Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, an opponent of the bill. "I won't put you through that again today, but this bill pushes about $2,000 a minute across to the oil industry, every minute of the day for the next six years, so I figured I saved the state about $80,000 yesterday."
But the debate also continued informally. As the Senate session opened, Sen. Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage and a leading supporter of the measure, introduced her 7-year-old son Grayson, who was working as an honorary page.
"As you know, we passed a very historic bill last night," McGuire said. "We have reconsideration today. I told him his future was on the line, so he's on the floor with us today."
After the session, an opponent of the measure, Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin, joined his family in the hall.
"Her future is not too bright after what we did last night," he said as he pushed his baby daughter in her stroller into the second floor elevator.
ORIGINAL STORY:
JUNEAU -- The Senate voted Wednesday night by the barest of margins to approve a massive tax cut for the oil industry in the hope that it would lead to more oil production in Alaska.
The vote on Senate Bill 21 was 11-9, with only Republicans supporting the measure. Two other Republicans, Gary Stevens of Kodiak and Bert Stedman of Sitka, joined the Senate's seven Democrats...
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
2012 Alaska took $9.9 billion dollars in taxes.
That is $27.1 Million a day.
$1.1 Million an hour.
$18.8 thousand a minute.
http://www.tax.alaska.gov/programs/documentviewer/viewer.aspx?2682f
Context is everything.
More than half the total selling price of all the oil produced in Alaska, went to Alaska in Taxes. Not half the profit, half the gross.
The Corrupt Bastards Club resurgent...
IIRC, 100% of the Oil on State Land belongs to the State.
The producers get half and the property owner gets half.
A thief by any other name is... a politician!
Also the private land. No individual rights of minerals in Alaska. The native own their minerals and the Feds own their minerals.
The producers get half and the property owner gets half.
If you are talking about royalty rates: The royalty rate varies, according to the terms of the lease agreement, from 5% to 60% but is most often 12.5%.
http://dog.dnr.alaska.gov/Royalty/Accounting.htm
However, the 52% of the gross that goes to Alaska includes the production from Native Lands and Federal.
Alaska has some unique extra taxes for oil/gas companies. For example state property taxes are levied on oil/gas property, but not the property owned by any other industry or individuals.
And folks wonder why oil production is climbing in many oil producing states but continues to fall in Alaska and California...
Alaska’s problem right now is that there is a lot more Oil in North Dakota and Texas available via the Fracking method than there is oil in Alaska.
The fact of the matter is that they have to lower the tax and royalty rates or the producers will just take their business elsewhere.
But then if the oil isn’t taken out of the ground in Alaska, it ain’t going anywhere. So the question is whether they need the revenue short term or long term.
Alaska had the oil companies over a barrel (no pun intended) when there was a limitation on the available oil elsewhere. Now there is literally no limit to the amount of oil that can be generated elsewhere, so if Alaska wants to stay in the oil business, they are going to have to be competitive with Texas and North Dakota.
Alaska has oil shale too. But with the tax structure currently in place, along with the greater expense of Alaska’s climate and lesser infrastructure, it isn’t economical to produce.
The oil’s there
http://www.petroleumnews.com/pntruncate/579585369.shtml
Great Bear says it wants to accelerate its North Slope shale oil program
I had never heard that. Do you know how that came about?
I thought that in the U.S. the mineral rights on private land always accrued to (or at least started out with) the private holder.
After the purchase by the feds and the establishment of the State, it was part of the constitution. No private ownership of land.
Keep in mind that when Alaska became a state it was already into oil production in the Cook Inlet Area and the Naval Petroleum Reserve had already been established on the North Slope. The governments didn’t want to give away the resources they already paid to get. Remember Alaska was purchased from the Russians for the purpose of producing resources; it just wasn’t expected to be oil at that time.
Sorry, no private ownership of oil/gas mineral rights on private land.
State of Alaska > Lt. Governor > Alaska Constitution > Natural Resources
http://ltgov.alaska.gov/treadwell/services/alaska-constitution/article-viii-96A0natural-resources.html
§ 11. Mineral Rights
Discovery and appropriation shall be the basis for establishing a right in those minerals reserved to the State which, upon the date of ratification of this constitution by the people of Alaska, were subject to location under the federal mining laws. Prior discovery, location, and filing, as prescribed by law, shall establish a prior right to these minerals and also a prior right to permits, leases, and transferable licenses for their extraction. Continuation of these rights shall depend upon the performance of annual labor, or the payment of fees, rents, or royalties, or upon other requirements as may be prescribed by law. Surface uses of land by a mineral claimant shall be limited to those necessary for the extraction or basic processing of the mineral deposits, or for both. Discovery and appropriation shall initiate a right, subject to further requirements of law, to patent of mineral lands if authorized by the State and not prohibited by Congress. The provisions of this section shall apply to all other minerals reserved to the State which by law are declared subject to appropriation.
§ 12. Mineral Leases and Permits
The legislature shall provide for the issuance, types and terms of leases for coal, oil, gas, oil shale, sodium, phosphate, potash, sulfur, pumice, and other minerals as may be prescribed by law. Leases and permits giving the exclusive right of exploration for these minerals for specific periods and areas, subject to reasonable concurrent exploration as to different classes of minerals, may be authorized by law. Like leases and permits giving the exclusive right of prospecting by geophysical, geochemical, and similar methods for all minerals may also be authorized by law.
Thanks.
You da (oil) man!
Keep in mind as well, less than 1% of Alaska is privately owned. Feds have the majority(60%), followed by state ownership and then the natives.
http://dnr.alaska.gov/mlw/factsht/land_own.pdf
As a kid I always wanted to live there.
Can’t even imagine the bureaucracy and nannyism of such a place.
A Alaskan FReeper once described the predominate political attitude as Redneck Socialism.
I lived in Eagle River, AK for four years, there was a lot of truth in that.
In my opinion, there are far too many that want to squeeze the golden goose until it chokes.
That's not really an arguable issue is it considering the qualified citizens of Alaska get an annual check from either the oil companies or the state?
If you have been there a full year, you get a check from the Permanent Fund. The fund was started with half the states oil royalties going into the fund. Half the interest from the earrings of the fund are divided by the citizens.
Each year half the states Royalties (but not the other taxes) are added to the fund. When I got it from 2004-2008, the oil payments were about 1/5 the total payment. Most of the money comes from the investments, stocks and the like the fund is in.
By only paying out half the interest, the fund continues to grow.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.