Kind of true. However, ownership of the oil is socialized. The government owns all the oil, and is collecting royalties on oil production. It is a tax, it's socialism. The government owns the resources and manages them for "the common good".
However in effect, the government can give itself a raise at the expense of cost of economic growth by taking a larger percentage of the profits. The effect of a 20% increase in royalties is exactly the same as adding a 20% tax on the oil.
What is the difference between an income tax and a royalty payment to the government on earnings?
You can change the name but it still has an identical effect as a tax increase, so you're just arguing semantics.
Royalties are paid for the franchise to extract resources owned by “the people” (or the Crown, or the Soviet, whatever). They are a cost of doing business for the miner. If a company wants a resource, it pays for it — same as if it needs office space, it pays for that.
We all know what a tax is.