Congress preserves oil and gas industry tax provisions

Congress passed the 2010 federal budget without adopting the Obama Administration’s proposal to eliminate several tax provisions favorable to the oil and gas industry, including percentage depletion and expensing of intangible drilling costs. See my earlier post discussing these tax provisions.  Adam Haynes, EVP of Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO), was quoted in TIPRO’s April 17 newsletter as saying that that the industry had “dodged a bullet,” and that repeal of these tax provisions, which purportedly cost taxpayers $80 billion a year, “would very negatively impact the exploration for needed energy here and throughout the nation.”