“Nobody likes being called a liar by well-funded special interests,” writes Les Gara on a recent post at akdemocrats.org.
Gara argues the point that the Governor’s $8 billion reduction in the state’s oil revenue share will not actually inspire new exploration from BP, ConocoPhillips, or Exxon. Others, Gara included, have made proposals that are more beneficial to everyone involved.
In addition, the oil companies concerned with the oil rig debacle pointed out by Hollis French a few weeks ago have claimed that they were ordered before 2007, when the ACES tax law was passed (a supposedly “onerous” law, according to oil companies). Gara cites a number of press sources proving this claim to be false- the rigs were indeed ordered in 2008, well after ACES was made applicable.
The lobbying group in question have also made the claim that other oil states have up to 50 or 100 times more rigs than in AK. This claim doesn’t take into account, however, that in many “Outside” states such as Texas or Wyoming, people can simply drill a 10 or 20 barrel well with a small rig. These tiny operations are numerous and therefore account for the rig disparity. In Alaska, we need world-class drills that are capable of huge field operations- we don’t have the luxury of hopping from oil field to oil field.
Lastly, these oil corporations also announced the building of new offices and developments in Alaska, also well after the implementation of the 2007 tax law. They made no original mention that their new development would be contingent on the passing of the Governor’s $8 billion dollar bill- until now, that is.
The full original report can be found here.
