Oklahoma Natural Gas Tax Revs Down as Tax Credit Returns

The end of a two-year energy tax credit hiatus is causing a lag in revenues from Oklahoma’s state tax on natural gas production, finance director Preston Doerflinger said in a report last week.

A rebate program that provided energy companies with a credit on gas produced by expensive drilling methods was halted in 2010, but went back into effect July 1.

The suspended credits were expected to total $150 million, but Doerflinger said the actual total was nearly $294 million over the two years.

The state now will reimburse the producers, which agreed to the suspension, about $98 million a year for the next three fiscal years.

“Fortunately, strong tax collections in other areas are making up for those losses,” Doerflinger said.

“The Oklahoma economy has been on a roll the past two years, and this report indicates to me that our recovery from the recession is still ongoing,” he said.

Natural gas gross production tax collections totaled $27.8 million in September, down 94% from September 2011 and well below the $45.6 million expected.

State tax collections totaled $541.9 million in September, up $15.6 million from last year.

General fund collections for the first three months of fiscal 2013 total $1.3 billion, down $6.4 million from the first quarter of fiscal 2012, but $22.3 million above expectations.

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Oklahoma
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