‘Don’t patronize me’ — Rep. Katie Porter clashes with oil executive over the industry’s special tax breaks
“ You get to deduct 70 percent of your costs immediately, and other businesses have to amortize their expenses over their entire profit stream, so please don’t patronize me by telling me that the oil and gas industry doesn’t have any special tax provisions. ”
That was Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) during a congressional hearing on Tuesday speaking to Mark Murphy, president of Strata Production Company. Strata is an oil and energy company based in New Mexico.
Porter, who is the chair of the House Natural Resources Oversight Committee, was on the offensive when discussing tax benefits for oil and gas companies.
“We get to deduct all of those just like any other business,” Murphy responded. “There seems to be a misconception out there that you’re operating from that somehow the oil and gas industry benefits from some special sort of tax structure. We don’t.”
Porter did not agree and refuted Murphy’s claim.
“You do benefit from special rules. There’s a special tax rule for intangible drilling costs that does not apply to other kinds of expenses that businesses have.”
Rep. Porter was named chair of the House Natural Resources Oversight Committee in February 2021 and has been critical of oil companies for years.
In her chair role, Porter claims she wants “to hold polluters accountable, safeguard all of our communities, and help spearhead solutions to the climate crisis.”
Crude oil prices are up 38% over the past three months, according to FactSet data, while natural gas prices have gained nearly 6% over the same period.
Oil futures moved higher as West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery CL.1,
