Quote:
Originally Posted by widebody911
* royalty-free (or nearly free) leases
* tax subsidies
* If using the US military to acquire and secure your operations abroad isn't a subsidy, I don't know what is.
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No such thing. There is only one example that i know of and believe me I've looked.
in the late 90's IIRC the government was pushing the oil companies to INCREASE drilling in the gulf. The government wanted to lower the price of oil and prevent another embargo deal, and they also wanted the revenue.
There were some available leases in the gulf with proved oil, but they were not thought to be high quality producers and were deep, and expensive. The oil companies weren't sure it was worth it to pay the big $$$ for the leases and risk losing money on them. The government re-wrote the standard lease agreement and left out one little part, a part that is standard on most leases. It says something like "if oil gets over $70 a barrel the oil company has to pay an additional royalty above and beyond the standard royalty". Not sure about the number but that's basically it.
That omission was basically meaningless because no one ever expected oil to get that expensive.
s soon as it did, some democrats (like Hitlery) started screaming "we need that money! We need to spend that money! Quick! It's burning a hole in my pocket and I don't even have it yet!
The leases were a legal agreement and Hitlery wants to jones on the contract and amend it now that the leases are profitable. typical sleazy lawyer.
There is your subsidy. that's it, that's all there is.
So please, stop being pawns repeating the myth that oil companies get subsidies and tax breaks. The opposite is true. They don't get breaks at all, they get taxed to death, they get charged for something every time they take a breath.
They are free game because they aren't popular. Just like cigarettes, the politicians can stick it to them on a daily basis and no one will complain or defend them. The term cash cow comes to mind.
Just because a few democrats made something up and lied to all of us about some mythical subsidies that don't exist to get votes from the mentally challenged, doesn't mean we have to swallow their lies.
We're better than that.
editted to correct specific numbers.