Time for action: Public comment week on SB 21: Start practicing your 2 minutes!

Oil tax reform: Please weigh in

Alaskans will have two chances to testify next week on how to fix ACES when the Senate Resources Committee takes public comment on SB 21, the governor’s proposed oil tax reform bill.

6 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18
5:15 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20

Testimony will be taken statewide on both days. The preference is that you testify in person at your local Legislative Information Office.

Comments should be limited to two minutes.

Click here for a list of Legislative Information Offices.

Talking points may include:

• We are being out-produced by places like North Dakota and Alberta, but not because we don’t have the oil. It’s because Alaska is not competitive.
   
• One-third of Alaska’s economy depends on oil. We need a robust and growing oil industry.
   
• There are billions of barrels of oil on the North Slope that will be left in the ground if we don’t make them economic to produce.
   
• We need an oil tax structure that protects Alaska’s interests, but makes Alaska competitive over the long term.
   
• The trans-Alaska pipeline is running three-quarters empty. We need a tax policy that fills it up again.
   
• The governor laid out four guiding principles for any ACES reform. They should be ones all Alaskans can embrace: fair to Alaskans, encourage new production, simple and durable for the long term.
   
• Since ACES was imposed in 2007, North Slope oil production has fallen by more than 200,000 barrels a day. Production continues to decline an average of 6-8 percent per year.
   
• Since ACES was enacted, investment in new production has fallen off. Last year only $1 out of every $4 in one producer’s capital expenditures went toward enhancing production. The rest was spent on operations, maintenance and repairs.
   
• And only one out of every five of that producer’s North Slope staff is involved in finding new oil or building projects.

See you Monday or Wednesday!