Panel Analyzing Role of Alaska''s Oil, Gas Tax

The Associated Press reports that a Senate committee is hearing conflicting accounts of how well Alaska''s oil and gas production tax is working, with no promise that anything will be done about a nearly two-year-old tax that has helped swell state coffers but drawn complaints from oil companies. As part of a series of ongoing hearings, industry representatives told the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday that the tax is too high and the regulations too ambiguous to give producers assurances they need in making major investments. The state Department of Revenue has said the tax, which provides tax breaks for new development, is performing as expected. A consultants'' report questioned how great a role the tax was playing on development decisions amid the volatile prices and global economic woes of the last couple years.