Oil, gas trade groups ask Congress to shun calls for higher taxes

Fourteen US oil and gas trade associations asked US congressional leaders to resist proposals to increase oil and gas taxes during the 2012 yearend lame duck session as an early step to address the looming federal fiscal crisis.

“Through hundreds of billions of dollars invested to develop vast new oil and natural gas reserves, this industry is not only producing the energy a growing economy demands, but also creating tens of thousands of high-paying jobs while generating billions in new revenue for the government,” the Nov. 27 letter to US Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), US House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said.

“Therefore, any attempts to target the oil and gas industry for punitive treatment should be avoided as higher taxes could put the economic growth we’ve created at risk,” it continued.

The letter was signed by top officials from the American Petroleum Institute, Independent Petroleum Association of America, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, Natural Gas Supply Association, American Exploration & Production Council, America’s Natural Gas Alliance, Association of Energy Service Cos., National Ocean Industries Association, Petroleum Equipment Suppliers Association, and five other industry associations.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].