I would vote no. The original oil profit tax put in place by the Palin administration strangled the oil/gas industry in Alaska.
It was the main reason while the lower 48 oil industry was begin to boom, Alaska continued to decline.
It was a significant part of my decision to leave Alaska in 2007 and return to Texas to a more rewarding business climate.
From my point of view, it was an insanely high tax that drove the investment money from Alaska to other locations.
I was leading an engineering department in Anchorage at the time it went into place (retroactively). Within a couple years, the department I had lead had fallen to 1/3 its size while the majors canceled projects and stop investing for real future projects of significance.
The climate and transportation challenges make the North Slope work long term projects. The tax now is still too high in my opinion but acceptable for some investment into Alaska North Slope. To raise it again would show companies Alaska isn’t done yet trying to strangle their golden goose.
Thanks.
Very informative post. Question: Is Alaska strangling it all on their own, or is the US government making it significantly worse?
The climate and transportation challenges make the North Slope work long term projects. The tax now is still too high in my opinion but acceptable for some investment into Alaska North Slope. To raise it again would show companies Alaska isn’t done yet trying to strangle their golden goose.
It isn’t Alaska trying to kill off the oil companies - it’s the **Demo(n)crats**. Les Garza is leading the attack.