Daily Archives: March 2, 2013

As noted on these pages previously, I write a bi-monthly column on oil & gas issues for the Alaska Business Monthly.  This is the fifth column, originally published in the March 2013 print edition and available online here.

Article VIII, Section 2 of the Alaska Constitution requires that “[t]he legislature shall provide for the utilization, development, and conservation of all natural resources belonging to the State, including land and waters, for the maximum benefit of its people.”

As we have often heard during this legislative session, many read this provision as having significant relevance to the current oil tax debate, arguing that the provision requires the state to tax oil production at high rates in order to derive the “maximum benefit” from the oil for the state’s citizens. Continue reading →