Re:The Real Price of Oil
by jofer on Tuesday September 29, 2015 @09:54AM
(#10296278)
That's a bit of an unfair comparison.
Most of the "taxes" you have include to make it "the most friction applied of almost any commodity" to are royalities.
The government for country X owns the land and leases it to E&P companies under an agreement that they will pay a Y% royalty in addition to taxes. In other words, I own this, but I'll let you produce it for me for a Y% cut.
Royalties are taxes in a strict sense, but they would be paid if it were a private landowner as well (though the government usually has more leverage to negotiate a better deal than an individual landowner).
Most of the "taxes" you have include to make it "the most friction applied of almost any commodity" to are royalities.
The government for country X owns the land and leases it to E&P companies under an agreement that they will pay a Y% royalty in addition to taxes. In other words, I own this, but I'll let you produce it for me for a Y% cut.
Royalties are taxes in a strict sense, but they would be paid if it were a private landowner as well (though the government usually has more leverage to negotiate a better deal than an individual landowner).