Raising Oil-Industry Taxes Would Cost Jobs in Texas.

The oil-and-gas industry helps power the U.S. economy, especially here in Texas. More than 300,000 Texans work in the industry. They generate nearly 7 percent of the wages in our state, despite being only a little more than 3 percent of our workforce.

More than 90 percent of the wells in our country are operated by small and independent businesses, and even the major energy companies rely on small businesses as suppliers and contractors. Together these workers and businesses help reduce our dependence on foreign oil and contribute to the diversity of energy resources that we will need for decades to come.

Domestic oil and gas production is part of America's energy solution, but many in Washington see the industry as part of the problem. As a member of the Senate Finance Committee, I heard the Obama administration testify this month that our domestic oil-and-gas industry actually reduces our long-term energy security. In their view, our industry is guilty of overproduction, at a time when 60 percent of our oil comes from foreign sources.

To attack overproduction, the White House wants to repeal nine oil and gas incentives that encourage our entrepreneurs to develop America's natural resources and create new jobs. By doing so, the administration would impose more than $30 billion in new taxes over 10 years.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6643881.html

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Permalink Reply by Terry L. Antee on October 1, 2009 at 11:10
What the government would like to do is nationalize the oil companies and control drilling in the United States and off shore. This administration does not like capitalism, Christians, or the Constitution.
Permalink Reply by Jon Williamson on October 1, 2009 at 13:23
I think a major push to nationalize could come within 5 years. Let's hope we get a decent buyout for our producing royalties. I can only imagine what will probably happen to minerals which aren't producing.
Permalink Reply by Pipeliner on October 2, 2009 at 6:13
Open Choke
Open Choke is the nom de plume of an anonymous oil and gas industry executive. Open Choke's ideas and opinions do not necessarily represent the ideas or opinions of Drillinginfo.com, its owners, or employees. Visit www.drillinginfo.com! « A National Embarassment | Main | More Advertising on Acid. »

September 24, 2009
Nationalizing America's Oil Companies
I was listening to the radio on the way to work this morning and the topic of discussion was how a local lawyers group had set up a series of "discussions and debates" for high school seniors on a variety of topics. The first was topic was

"If gasoline goes to $10 per gallon, should we nationalize the oil industry?"

These students voted that they did indeed think it was a good idea. The lawyer/moderator said something to the effect that "all those young people who voted to do so, did so only after considering all the facts and after having thoroughly debating it. It was the American way."

Good to know that our young folk are so well schooled in sophistry and debate. Yay. Unfortunately, it seems like they might be a pantload light on economics or history. The REAL cost in the increasingly eroding return on investment we have in our educational system is in the damage these energetic and idealistic, yet ignorant, pups can do when they are given the keys (and handguns and whiskey) of power. The regrettable shrinking SAT scores just portend that.

Let's face it. The entire premise is so silly on so many levels that I cannot believe it was seriously chosen as a topic of debate.

First, what good would nationalizing the US oil industry do?

Continued:
http://openchoke.blogs.com/open_choke/2009/09/nationalizing-america...
Permalink Reply by Pipeliner on October 3, 2009 at 9:28
On a lighter note, couldn't you just see a nationalized drilling company using ex-post office government workers reassigned to work as roughnecks on drilling rigs? That would be sort of like a :"Chinese Fire Drill":.

This goes on in Italy, with Saipem, a government owned pipeline construction company. They get some of their labor from the Unemployment Department of the Italian government. Rather than pay unemployment payments, they put them on construction jobs. Most have zero experience.

I worked for this company laying large diameter pipelines in the Italian Alps in 1972 and 1973. Back then labor, got $8 per day and an experienced pipeline welder got $20 a day. If the welder could get on one of their foreign jobs, such as in Switzerland or Austria, he could make $100 a day. To say at those depressed wages, the workers were uninspired, is an understatement.

By using green hands in the mountains, by itself, is dangerous enough, but all the crews would stop at bars (in the winter) on the way to work and drink up a lot of vodka and snapps, to warm up. You had to work your crews hard in the morning, because everyone would go to a big restaurant for lunch. They took off 2 hours for lunch which cost $1.70 for a state priced "Workman's Lunch". This included all the red and white wine they could drink.

Sometimes your whole crew would be "drunk-as-skunks" after lunch, especially the equipment operators. You would hope you were far enough ahead of the crew behind you, so you could shut down before someone got killed or you lost a tractor off the side of the mountain. In Europe you could not run someone off for drinking (all over Europe they drink beer and wine all day long.) The only way you could run one off as if he got "Falling-down drunk".

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