OIPA Takes Doerflinger To Task Over Credits Criticism
OIPA Suggests State Finance Secretary Doesn’t Understand Tax Provisions
Oklahoma City— Oklahoma’s Secretary of Finance and Revenue, Preston Doerflinger has stirred up a storm in his call for the elimination of what he says are tax breaks for oil and gas drillers in the state. The President of the Oklahoma Independent Petroleum Association, Mike Terry suggests Doerflinger doesn’t know the difference between a tax break and tax provisions.
“Tax provisions for the oil and natural gas industry are not tax breaks,” said Terry in a statement issued today in Oklahoma City. “They are a capital investment in Oklahoma’s economy.”
Terry also maintains the oil and natural gas industry’s partnership with the state ensures the development of Oklahoma’s natural resources remains competitive with other energy-producing states and continues at levels that benefit the state and its residents.
He continued to defend the tax provisions, saying that in the face of decreased commodity prices, they have proven their worth by increasing the number of oil and natural gas wells drilled in the state. “Increased drilling results in increased production, benefitting state tax coffers, hundreds of thousands of Oklahoma royalty owners and the workers needed to complete and maintain those wells,” Terry added.